Puckleberry Finn
by MaryRoyale
Summary: This story explores how Puckleberry Finn would work as a real relationship. It is NOT Puckleberry and it is NOT Finchel. It is Puckleberry Finn. Major SMUT warning, but I'm looking at the relationship dynamic involved in a triad too.
1. Her Boys

_A/N: I was inspired to write this by the genuine affection for Rachel evinced by both Puck and Finn. What if she loved them both equally? What if they loved her enough to want her happiness more than anything else? What if that meant that they were both in a relationship with her, at the same time? For those of you familiar with polyamorous parlance—I consider this relationship to be a polyfidelitous "V" relationship, with Rachel at the apex. Also, I wondered how other people (inside the gleeverse) would react to this admittedly unusual arrangement._

Looking back, Rachel wasn't quite sure when or how their relationship had developed into what it had become. For the longest time, her boys were just her boys. Puck and Finn always had her back. Occasionally, there had been times when she'd grown distant with one or the other, but that never lasted. They had girlfriends, she had boyfriends, but they never lasted either. She had never really developed friendships with other girls before she had joined glee—mostly because the girls at her school were shallow, vapid, vicious little bitches. Her friendships with Puck and Finn had been equally strained when they dated some of those girls. Puck and Finn's friendship with each other was strained when Finn's girlfriend, Quinn, cheated on him with Puck. Rachel hated to remember that time. She felt so distant from her boys, and she had ached inside for the pain they were both going through. They had both turned to her for solace and comfort in the aftermath. She had done the best she could, but she felt herself torn between them—she felt she must choose _somebody_. And so did they. They demanded that she pick a side. Rachel never did well with ultimatums. Furious with both of them, she refused to deal with either of them, and started to date a boy from another school named Jesse St. James. Puck and Finn were livid when Jesse transferred to their school to date _their_ girl. It was funny, and it never once occurred to them, that they didn't mind each other so much, but they couldn't stand that prat from Carmel High. Rachel thought that everything must have come to a head when Jesse betrayed her in what she referred to as "the Parking Lot Incident". (Everyone else called it Rachel Omelette.) Puck and Finn were united in their desire to rearrange Jesse's face. Yes. It must have been around then. They both knew by that time that they each loved her. They also knew what happened when they made Rachel choose between them. Their relationship seemed to progress through its own organic genesis. The boys would take her to the movies, bowling, to the paintball gun park, on picnics, etc. It actually took Rachel awhile to realize that her boys were taking her on dates. The first time she realized what was happening occurred when some of their friends from glee wanted to come bowling with them.

"Hey, guys? Mercedes, Artie, Mike, and Tina think bowling would be a blast. I invited them to join us, okay?" Puck and Finn didn't seem overly thrilled with the idea, and sulked all night long.

"What's wrong with Puck and Finn?" Mercedes asked Rachel. Rachel rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I have NO idea. They are driving me crazy! I am so close to going home it isn't funny."

"Well, girl, maybe you should _ask _them what's wrong." Rachel snorted.

"As if they'd tell me! They'd probably rather rip out their own tongues than…" An unholy light gleamed in Rachel's eyes. She whipped out her phone and punched her speed dial for Kurt.

"Hi, sweetie! What's up?"

"Men are idiots," Rachel bit out through gritted teeth.

"Except me, of course."

"Well, yes. You, Kurt, are the exception that proves the rule. I meant _other _men."

"You mean my brother."

"Maybe. He's definitely one of them." Kurt sighed heavily. He had grown really fond of Finn, he supposed he loved him like a brother, but sometimes he could be an absolute ass.

"Please god, tell me our mom won't see it on the news."

"No! Well, maybe if I go over the edge and kosh him in the head with a bowling ball." Mercedes giggled at the image that conjured. Kurt sat up.

"Wait a minute. Is Mercedes there?"

"Yeah. It's a bunch of us from glee. Mercedes, Artie, Tina, Mike, Puck, Finn and me."

"Did Puck _and_ Finn ask you to go bowling?"

"Yes."

"Did _you_ invite the rest of the gang?"

"Well…yes." Kurt sighed. He knew his brother really loved the tiny brunette. He also knew his brother's fears about pushing her away after the whole Omelette debacle. He had been (accidently! He _totally _was NOT eavesdropping!) privy to Finn and Puck's compromise to make sure they didn't scare off _their_ girl to some other creep. "Kurt? Do not tell me you actually _know_ what the hell is going on and you didn't _tell_ me!" Rachel's perfectly trained voice ripped through a couple octaves and decibels. She began pacing next to the table she and Mercedes had been sitting at.

"Language, darling." Rachel's chocolate eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You _do _know. Somehow, someway, you _know_ something I don't. Something they don't want me to know." The wheels turned furiously in Rachel's mind. She was so used to the rivalry between Finn and Puck she hadn't realized that they'd become a team—united, and with a single focus named Rachel Berry. She thought back through recent events. She realized they'd started acting differently after the whole "Parking Lot Incident". She thought about what that meant, and she sucked breath into her lungs in a gasp. "Oh my god!"

"You might want to talk to them, you know. Maybe soon." Kurt suggested sweetly.

"Uh-huh. I love you, too." She murmured dazedly into the phone.

"So? What did Kurt say?"

"Um, nothing. Damn him!"

"But why did you say 'oh my god!' like that?"

"Um. Kurt said that he wants to have a sleepover with us. At my house. This weekend." Rachel was desperately trying to figure out how to cover up her faux pas on the phone. Luckily, Mercedes was so excited at the prospect of seeing their favorite Dalton Warbler, she forgot about the weirdness on the phone. Rachel didn't. She stalked over to her two boys sulking off to the side of everyone else. She leaned down toward them both and narrowed her gaze at them. They both swallowed nervously. Rachel was kind of scary when she had that glint in her eye.

"We need to talk." Then she stood up and stalked off to Mercedes. They both looked at each other in a blind panic. Those were the words guaranteed to strike fear into the hearts of relationship-minded people everywhere.

Later that night, they drove her home. Finn and Puck took turns being the official ride, but whenever they took their girl out, they all went in the same vehicle. It was never something they'd actually talked about—they just did it. The boys were really quiet on the ride. Rachel, because she was currently not speaking to either of them for fear she would say something she'd regret horribly right after it left her mouth, was unusually quiet as well. In fact, the only sound was the radio. They arrived at Rachel's house. She sat in the car for a moment.

"In the house. Now." She slammed the car door and in the house she stomped all the way up the stairs to her bedroom.

"This can't be good." Finn muttered.

"Yeah." Puck couldn't agree more. They looked at each other and fist bumped. No matter what, they were going to see this through. They'd already decided that. The boys got out of the car and walked slowly upstairs, looking like they were on the way to the guillotine. Rachel whirled and glared at them, her arms crossed across her chest.

"So when did you two decide that I was so stupid, that you didn't need to talk to me about how you were going to share me?" The boys both paled at the exact same time.

"Berry, that's not it at all," Puck spread his hands in front of him.

"Shut it, Puckerman! I am so _mad_ at both of you right now! I can't believe you would go along with this, Finn!"

"Rach…" Finn looked horrified. "I didn't…I mean…we, we didn't want you to end up with some other jerk because of another dumb ultimatum."

"We screwed up the first time. We get that, Rachel, we own it." Puck was so sincere. It was so weird, but he was so sweet and honest.

"So we decided we would never do that again. I mean, make you choose. You said you cared about both of us and if we cared at all about you—we wouldn't make you choose between us. So we won't." Finn was trying so hard to make sure she understood why they had made their decision. He was adorable when he was so earnest.

"The only problem is, Rachel. We don't like you anymore." Puck glanced at Finn for reassurance who nodded. Then they both looked at Rachel.

"We love you." She sat down. Hard. On the floor. They scrambled to her side. One boy on either side. Both with tender concern in their faces. Each with worry in his eyes.

"You love me?" They nodded. "Both of you?" They smiled and nodded again.

"We love you." They said it in unison. It made Rachel's arms turn to gooseflesh. She stared at them almost dumbfounded. How could she choose between them? It was impossible. Finn was sweet, kind and giving. He was a natural leader. People looked to him in times of crisis. He built people up, encouraged them to look within to find their own strengths and play to them. Puck was a rebel. He reveled in his self-proclaimed title of bad-ass. He expected people to tough it out on their own, just as he had done. If you were a friend of Puck's—he would have your back, no matter what. They were both so different. That was exactly why she loved them.

"I…I can't choose between you." She whispered, her eyes wide and filling with tears.

"We don't want you to!" Finn reassured her, stroking her arm.

"That's the point, Rachel." Puck agreed, brushing her hair off her shoulder.

"If you pick one of us. Doesn't matter which one. The other one loses you." Finn's voice was quiet and his face had that tight look that meant he was internalizing his emotions again.

"I can't do that." Puck said quietly, looking away from Rachel.

"Me either," mumbled Finn concentrating on the pile of Rachel's carpet.

"So…so you share me?" Rachel looked like she thought both of them might be crazy.

"What are we supposed to do?" Puck asked quietly.

"You tell us, Rach. Tell us how to make it fair. How to not hurt anybody, and we'll do it." Finn refused to look at her. She was already hurting them. They were both terrified of what might happen tonight. She looked at both of them. Really looked at them. No one knew her boys like she did. She sighed.

"I cannot _believe_ I am agreeing to this. It is insane! You know that right? Right?" Then she squealed as she was attacked by both boys. They hugged her tightly between them. They both kissed whatever part of her they could reach. She wasn't sure who kissed her lips first, but both boys claimed them at some point. This was crazy. Absolutely crazy.


	2. Learning to Deal

**Chapter 2: Learning to Deal**

Rachel, being Rachel, made a chart. She was very organized and meticulous so that things like that came to her like second nature. Puck and Finn just sat back and rolled their eyes at one another.

"But, honey, we got this," Puck argued. Rachel shook her head and stamped her tiny foot. Finn loved it when she did that. She was so adorable.

"Puck, seriously? How can I go on dates with you both at the same time?" Puck shrugged and grumbled to Finn.

"It was working just fine."

"Oh, really? So you don't mind never kissing me? You want to just continue on as before? The only real difference being that I now know what you two are up to?" Puck shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Well…I would like to kiss you." He glanced at Finn. Finn frowned.

"I guess we never thought about that part. I mean, of course I want to kiss you. I think about it all the time."

"Well, if you had individual dates then you could kiss me. I refuse to make out with one of you while the other has to sit there and watch. That's just mean." Both boys frowned. They hadn't really thought about each of them kissing Rachel. Puck looked at Finn.

"Maybe we could do individual dates," he muttered. "I still think we should do the other dates too."

"Of course we should. You boys have decided that you both want me. That means you have to be able to deal with each other. I refuse to only see one of you on Valentine's Day or other major holidays. That, too, is just mean. Would either of you like to be the one sitting at home on Valentine's Day?"

"No." They muttered in unison.

"Good." She smiled at them angelically. "I'm glad we could all see eye to eye. Finn you get Saturday nights and Puck you get Sundays."

"What about Friday nights?" Finn asked, confused. Puck and Rachel stared at him for a minute. Puck cleared his throat.

"Dude, it's Shabbat," he explained finally.

"Oh. Okay." Finn flushed in embarrassment. Sometimes he forgot about the fact that both Puck and Rachel were Jewish.

"I picked Sundays for Puck because that isn't a special night for us. I thought it would work out that way. We can hang out as a group on Fridays before sunset." Rachel had really carefully considered everything. It was sort of amazing.

"Well, wait. What about school?" Finn asked.

"What do you mean?" Rachel was genuinely confused.

"Who gets to hold your hand? Whose jacket are you going to wear?" Puck knew exactly what Finn was asking because he wanted to know the same thing.

"Nobody. School is the same as before." Both boys looked irritated at that, and Rachel threw up her hands. "What exactly are we supposed to do? I wear Puck's jacket, but hold hands with Finn? I switch days of hand holding and jacket wearing? You guys, I would look like the slut of the universe. Do you know what would happen?" Both boys had the grace to flush because they knew exactly what would happen.

Thus began what Rachel privately thought of as "the Great Deceit" and the boys referred to as "Dealing". No one really knew what was going on, except Kurt, and by extension, Blaine. Finn and Puck were seriously annoyed that Kurt had known all along what was going on. Kurt loved his brother, though, and didn't care as long as he was happy. Well, and Rachel, too. He adored her. He mostly tolerated Puck, who was actually happy with that.

Everyone was used to Finn and Puck moving around Rachel like satellites around a planet. No one really noticed the subtle changes because many of them had taken place months earlier. Rachel always sat between Puck and Finn. One of them usually slung an arm on the back of her chair. Not around her shoulders, but along the back of the chair. They decided that was safe enough, and because they switched off who did it—they thought everyone would just assume it was some kind of friend thing. Actually, nobody really noticed. Back when they'd first started doing it, Rachel assumed it was a friend thing. It was just Puck, Finn and Rachel. Back when the whole Jesse thing went down Puck and Finn had gone ballistic when anyone even breathed wrong near Rachel. It was understood that to fuck with Rachel was to take on both Puck _and_ Finn. A couple hockey players had tried to slushie Rachel right after the whole Rachel Omelet fiasco. Everybody thought that when Finn pulled Puck off the hockey player he was waling on—that he was trying to break up the fight. Then Finn hauled back and started beating the shit out of the guy. No one ever slushied Rachel again. It was too dangerous.

Because Rachel had been so emotionally fragile at the time, she hadn't noticed that the slushie facials stopped happening. She hadn't known about the epic beat down, either. Finn and Puck were a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them.

So they continued as they had before, and nobody noticed the subtle shifts in their body language. Nobody knew that outside of school the boys would each take a hand and walk with her through the park. Nobody knew that they would cuddle on the couch with Rachel in the middle and watch movies. Nobody knew that she would be kissing Finn on Saturday nights and Puck on Sunday afternoons. After a while, Rachel didn't care what nobody else knew because really, it wasn't any of their business. After a while, Rachel had other things to worry about.

Puck was definitely more aggressive when it came to physical intimacy. He would whisper naughty things in Rachel's ears while his hands roamed as far as she would let him.

"C'mon, baby," he murmured in her ear. His fingers slid under her shirt and stroked her belly as he kissed her. She sighed against his lips as Puck's fingers traced lazy circles against her skin. His fingers slid further up her ribcage, tracing the line of her bra. She wriggled against him, which he took as an open invitation. His hands slid behind her back, and faster than she thought possible her breasts were suddenly free. When she gasped in surprise, Puck's tongue slid in her mouth and danced with hers. His fingers teased her nipples to erect points. She was enjoying everything he was doing, but it felt like too much, too fast. She kissed him for several more minutes, and he gently kneaded her breast. She squirmed against him, and he laughed against her neck. Then he gently nipped her shoulder. She squeaked. He'd never done that before. It hurt, but only a little bit. It also felt really, really good. All of it felt really, really good. She sat up, her breathing slightly erratic.

"Wait." She gasped out. Puck stilled and pulled back. He was aggressive, but he never, ever pushed Rachel into doing something she wasn't comfortable with.

"What's wrong, baby girl?" Whenever they were alone, or whenever it was just the three of them, Puck called her by all kinds of endearments and pet names. It was one of the things she loved about him.

"I just…I liked it, Noah, please don't misunderstand." Puck felt a silly smile forming on his face. She only called him Noah when they were alone and getting fairly intimate. Otherwise she called him Puck. Or if she was seriously pissed off at him, Puckerman. "I just…I need to stop now."

"Of course." He kissed her forehead, and moved a little farther away from her. He was dying, yeah, but he wasn't an asshole.

"Thank you, Noah."

"Anything for you, shorty."

The next Saturday couldn't have been more different. Finn just didn't push at all. He liked holding her, and he liked kissing her. He figured if Rachel wanted something different, she'd add it to the schedule or something. His kisses were different, too. Gentle, sweet, loving. Rachel always felt totally adored when Finn kissed her. Somehow, even when he nibbled on her lips it was gentle. Rachel loved kissing Finn, but she wanted to feel his hands on her, too. She pulled back from him.

"Stop." Finn looked surprised.

"Did I hurt you?" Rachel couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her. Finn couldn't hurt her if he tried. He was always so careful with her. Rachel wondered sometimes if it was because he was so big he worried about squishing her. Out of nowhere, Rachel suddenly recalled what Finn asked when she told him she was dating someone else. "Do I know him? Is he bigger than me?" At the time, the only thought in her head had been _how could anybody be __**bigger**__ than Finn? He's like 6'3"!_

"Finn you could never hurt me." Her chocolate eyes were filled with trust and love. Finn's heart swelled in his chest. She always made him feel so good, so special.

"Well, what is it?" Rachel started blushing.

"I…I want you to touch me." She wouldn't look at him, she just started to take off her shirt. Finn's eyes widened when she was sitting in front of him in just her bra. Then his face darkened. His thumb stroked her collar bone over to her shoulder.

"What's this?" A small fading bruise marked her golden skin. She glanced at her shoulder and her blush darkened.

"A bite mark." He had to strain to hear her whisper. His fingers tightened spasmodically around her shoulder. She could see the anger tightening his jaw and she grasped his face in her tiny hands.

"Hey! What's wrong?"

"He _bit_ you?"

"It didn't hurt," she confessed shyly, looking up at him through her lashes. "It kind of felt good. I kind of wondered what it would feel like if _you _did it." Finn swallowed hard. "I also want to know what it would feel like if _you_ touched me."

Finn wasn't totally thrilled with what that meant. Puck had touched her. He closed his eyes and laid his head against the wall. This was harder than he thought. He felt Rachel move on the bed. Then she was pressed against him with her little hands stroking his face, his shoulders, his chest. He knew she was trying to soothe him, comfort him. He brought his hands up to stroke her back. Touching her was always comforting to him. His eyes opened and he stared at her. She'd taken her bra off too. She was laying there in his arms, naked from the waist up. She smiled up at him.

"I love you." She looked so serious when she said it. "I want _you_ to touch me. I want _your _hands on my…me," she finished shyly. He nodded slowly.

Rachel would never get over how different her boys were. Finn touched her slowly, reverently, like she was glass. His fingers were feather-light on her skin. She shivered when his fingertips grazed her nipple. His hand stilled and he watched her face—worried that he'd done something wrong. She smiled up at him and pulled his face close to hers so she could kiss him. He looked into her face. Now he was the one who looked serious.

"You are so beautiful." His voice was thick with emotion. The smile curving her lips widened. As Finn grew more confident that he wasn't going to hurt her, his caresses grew bolder. He grew brave enough to trail kisses down her chest and capture a nipple between his lips. He began to suck on her nipple and she went crazy under him. Her fingers tangled in his hair and she began to squirm, moan and pant under him. He pulled back and stared at her in awe. Her eyes were heavy lidded and filled with desire.

"Why'd you stop?" She was pouting. She couldn't help it.

"Did you do that for him?" He couldn't help himself. He had to know. She shrugged and blushed.

"He didn't do that. He just touched me." Finn could not help the flash of satisfaction that coursed through him.

"Oh."

"Finn?" She looked at him with those eyes, and he knew what she was really asking.

"Sorry." He settled back down on the bed and began paying attention to her breasts again. He figured out that he could really make her crazy if he pinched one nipple and rolled it between his fingers while he suckled the other one. She was making noises he hadn't realized were possible. The little panting breaths were what really killed him. He nuzzled her neck and kissed her lips.

"Finn, baby?"

"Hmmm."

"Would you bite me?" She whispered in his ear. He pulled back and glanced at the faint bruise on her shoulder.

"You want me to?"

"Other shoulder. It felt really, really good. Please?" Finn sighed and lightly nipped her shoulder. She gasped in pleasure, her eyes rolling back a little. "Harder." Finn complied, and she moaned. Finn decided it was possibly the best night of his life so far.

Monday morning Finn arrived at school to find Puck waiting for him, which wasn't too unusual. Except this morning, Puck took a swing at him. Finn ducked reflexively.

"Dude! What the hell?"

"You fucking _bit_ her!" Puck tried to swing again, and Finn dodged him again.

"So did you!" Puck pulled himself up self-righteously.

"Dude, I nipped. _Very_ lightly. You full on _bit_ her." Finn wasn't watching out this time and Puck clocked him.

"Son of a bitch!" Finn tackled Puck and soon they were trading punches on the school lawn. Unfortunately for them, Rachel found them before a teacher did.

"Stop it!" She was screeching at the top of her lungs as she ran toward them. She launched her self in the air and landed on Puck's back. She was screaming in his ear and he was trying to shake her off and not hurt her at the same time.

"Ouch! Rachel, stop! You're gonna get hurt. Watch it!" She hopped off his back and smacked him upside the head.

"Have you lost your damn mind!" She screeched in his face. She was so enraged all she could see was a red haze. She whirled on Finn, who was on the ground with a split lip and a black eye. She sucked in her breath, and had to do everything in her power not to throw herself on him and start crying. She turned back to look at Puck who had a nasty bruise on his cheek.

"Rachel, you don't understand" Finn tried and then winced because his ribs hurt. Rachel threw her hands up in the air.

"Oh my god! You are both _crazy_! I can not believe this!" She stomped off toward the school. Mike and Sam came up, and helped Finn to his feet.

"What's going on?" Sam looked at the two normally inseparable best friends who were both staring after the tiny brunette.

"We are in such deep shit," muttered Finn.

"With Rachel? I have never seen her like that," Sam sounded impressed, "she was like a tiny ninja flying through the air. It was ten kinds of awesome!"

"It was a something leap. It's ballet," muttered Puck running a hand over his Mohawk. Finn was right. They were totally screwed.

"Still. It was badass." Mike nodded in agreement with Sam.

"Totally."

"C'mon Finn. We gotta do damage control. Like _now_." Puck was worried about what the tiny brunette was doing.

"She is really pissed right now, Puckerman. Maybe we should let her cool off?" Finn was a little scared of their tiny ninja at the moment. He had never seen anyone fly through the air like that in real life. If she didn't love Puck, like he knew she did, she probably would have seriously injured him. Puck snorted.

"Oh, yeah. Cuz that worked so well last time." Puck's voice dripped sarcasm. Finn knew what he meant. Last time, she'd grabbed Jesse just so she wouldn't have to deal with them.

"Fuck my life." Finn groaned.

"Tell me about it." They turned and headed into the school. Sam and Mike were left looking at each other.

"What the hell just happened?" Sam gestured to the lawn, which showed evidence of the boys rolling all over it. Mike shrugged.

"I have no freaking clue."

Rachel was hiding in the girl's bathroom because it was the only place the boys couldn't go. She was gasping for breath and crying as she pulled out her phone and speed dialed Kurt.

"Rachel?" Kurt was so confused. It was Monday morning and Rachel never called during class. Then he heard her sobbing on the other end of the line. "Honey?"

"F-f-f-finn," she gasped into the phone, and then started crying again.

"Okay. Well he's not dead, is he?" Wrong question. She seemed to be crying harder, if that were possible. "Jesus, he isn't _dead_, is he Rachel?"

"N-n-n-no."

"Okay. Um. Well, he'd never break up with you. So that's not it. If he did something stupid, you'd be pissed, not hysterical. So honey, I'm stumped. Did he do something?"

"N-n-n-no."

"Rachel. I'm trying to be a good friend long-distance. You know I love your diva ass, but I honestly can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."

The bathroom door opened and Mercedes came into the bathroom.

"Rachel honey, those boys are looking everywhere for you and they are freaking out majorly. I think Finn's hyperventilating."

Rachel peeked out of the stall to see if Mercedes was by herself. She was.

"D-d-d-don't…" Rachel started crying again. Mercedes' face softened in sympathy.

"Oh honey, I got your back, don't worry. You can stay in here." Rachel wordlessly held out the phone to Mercedes.

"Hello?"

"Oh, thank goodness! Mercedes what the hell is going on? She is absolutely hysterical, all she can do is cry into the phone. All I know is that Finn's not dead."

"Kurt? Oh my god, Kurt, you should have seen it! Puck and Finn were beating the crap out each other right on the school lawn when our diva comes running up and, I shit you not, does this flying ninja kick thing through the air. She was screaming like a banshee in Puck's ear, trying to get him off Finn. Then she started yelling at both of them. I swear I have never seen two huge football players look more like naughty little boys in my life. They both looked like they wished the earth would open up and swallow them."

"Okay, wait! Back up, Puck and Finn were _fighting_? Each other? And Rachel caught them?"

"Yeah! And then she did this awesome Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon move and landed on Puck's back."

"Okay, Mercedes. Give the phone back to Rachel." Kurt knew she was back when he could hear the shuddering gasps in his ear again.

"Honey, don't you dare leave that bathroom. I am on my way. I am going to kill them both myself. They won't need to worry about it. Now, sweetie, give the phone back to Mercedes." Rachel wordlessly handed the phone back to Mercedes.

"Kurt?"

"Mercedes, listen. Do not leave Rachel. I'm serious. Do not leave her alone. Do not let the boys near here. Stay there. I am on my way. Right now." Mercedes had never heard Kurt be so serious and so angry at the same time.

"Okay, Kurt. No worries. I got this." Mercedes was true to her word. She stayed with Rachel for the hour it took Kurt to break several vehicular laws and get to McKinley High. He swept into the girls bathroom like he had every right to be there. He was still in his Dalton Academy uniform. Rachel was on the floor with her arms wrapped around her middle.

"Where are they?" He bit out.

"In class, I got my girls doing Finndar and Puckwatch."

"C'mon Rachel, we're leaving." Kurt hustled Rachel out of McKinley and took her home. He made her change into her jammies, which consisted of boy shorts and a spaghetti strap tank top. Kurt's eyes widened at the very clear bite mark on Rachel's shoulder.

"Rachel, honey, is there something we need to tell Kurt?" Rachel realized where he was looking and blushed.

"I asked him to do it," she whispered.

"Which one, honey?"

"F-f-finn." She started crying again. Great. This was going nowhere fast. He was going to have to spearhead this himself. He looked at her clock radio. Perfect. It was lunch time. He pulled out his phone and speed dialed Finn.

"Kurt?" Finn's voice was stressed, but Kurt had spent all morning dealing with a hysterical Rachel.

"Have you lost your damn mind? I just really want to know." Kurt could not help himself. He'd wanted so badly to be calm and rational and he'd ended up screaming at his brother through the phone.

"Oh my god, Kurt, did you talk to her, where is she, we can't find her anywhere, and Kurt, she is so pissed at us right now." Finn was babbling. Mercedes was right, he did sound like he was hyperventilating.

"I have been dealing with her _all morning_." Kurt bit out into the phone. "She was so hysterical that all I could figure out was that you _weren't_ dead! Mercedes had to tell me what happened. So again, have you lost your damn mind?"

"I didn't do it, Puck started it. I had to defend myself! I couldn't just let him beat the crap out of me."

"Uh-huh."

"Kurt, I'm serious."

"Whatever. I want both of you here. Now." Finn was completely confused.

"Dalton Academy? No, Kurt, we gotta find Rachel. We have to." Kurt could hear the desperation in Finn's voice.

"No, you idiot. Once I figured out that you and Puckerman were single-handedly destroying my best friend I broke several laws to come get her. We are at her house. You will both come and deal with the mess you've made. Now."

Puck was standing impatiently next to Finn listening to half of the phone conversation, shifting from foot to foot. They had to find Rachel. Soon. Finn hung up his phone.

"She's at home. Kurt says we both have to come. Now." Puck nodded. They both went and got into Puck's truck because they both knew Finn shouldn't drive at the moment. "He said…he said she's been hysterical all morning. Crying." The boys both felt guilty as hell. Puck felt worse though because he'd started it. He'd seen that bite mark on Rachel's shoulder and he almost lost it. Obviously, it wasn't a big deal to Rachel because she didn't say anything about it.

They both sat outside Rachel's house for a couple minutes, afraid to go in. Kurt texted Finn who showed the message to Puck.

_Now, damnit!_

The boys sighed and entered the house. They dragged their feet up the stairs and went in Rachel's room. She was huddled in the middle of her bed making these gaspy, shuddering breaths that just ripped Puck and Finn's souls apart. Kurt was standing next to the bed glaring at both of them. He pointed to Puck.

"You. Why?" Puck had the grace to look ashamed.

"Rachel, he _bit_ you." Kurt snorted.

"So what?" he asked.

"Rachel, honey, he _hurt_ you." Kurt snorted again.

"Rachel, tell him." Kurt's voice was soothing, encouraging. Rachel looked at Puck with the most anguished eyes. She turned her gaze to Finn and then back to Puck.

"I asked Finn to do it. You did it and I liked it so I asked Finn to."

"But, baby, I just nipped you. Really lightly. That is a full on bite mark." Rachel blushed.

"Finn is always gentle," Rachel corrected Puck with a shake of her head. "I had to ask him to bite harder. The first time it was almost too gentle. He only did what I asked him to do. And I liked it." She blushed even harder.

"The real problem is that you could have solved the problem by asking her yourself. Instead of trying to hurt each other. You guys can't do that without killing her. Look at her. That is what happens when you two fight." Kurt was so angry with both of them he wanted to smack them both.

They swarmed the bed and sandwiched her between them. They just laid there holding her for a couple hours. Kurt waited downstairs while they talked to her.

"You two. I love you both so much," she started gasping again and they stroked her arms. "You can't…you can't get jealous if he touches my ass or he touches my breast or one of you gets to suck my toes. I can't do this. I can't. It hurts too much." Puck and Finn stared at each other. Finn saw that Puck was stroking Rachel's hair gently. Puck saw that Finn had his fingers interlaced with Rachel's. Puck pressed a kiss to Rachel's forehead. Finn didn't care. He just wanted Rachel to be happy again. He brought up their interlaced fingers and kissed her hand. Puck didn't care. He just wanted her to stop hurting.

"I love you, Rachel." Puck whispered in her ear. He cleared his throat and looked into those pain-filled eyes. "I love you. It's my fault. I got jealous. I'm sorry to both you and Finn." Finn shrugged.

"I love you, too Rachel. I got…I got jealous too. But you made it not matter because it's not about one or the other of us being better or more or whatever. It's that each of us gives you something different." Rachel smiled and touched his split lip with her fingertips.

"That's it, Finn. I love you both because you each give me something completely unique. I'm not a battleground. There is no winner. If one of you loses, we all lose." She glared at both of them then. "You can not fight each other. Ever. Again." They both promised her that it would never happen again.


	3. Jealousy

It was to Rachel's eternal horror that the fight between her boys was almost immediately forgotten, but glee club's tiny ninja lived on in immortal infamy. The jocks looked at her with new eyes. Some suggested that maybe Puck was a bad influence on her. When Sam or Mike were present they brought up the fact that her flying leap was some kind of ballet move. The boys of McKinley High developed a healthy respect for the students who belonged to ballet club. The ballet club named Rachel their member of the month.

"Hey, Rachel." Sam smiled at her and gave her a jaunty salute.

"Sup, little ninja." Artie smiled at her.

"Hey, guys." Her smile was slightly strained.

"So do you know what you're going to sing this week?" Sam asked politely. Rachel relaxed and smiled more fully at Sam. He was such a nice boy, so polite, and so gentlemanly.

"I'm not sure, yet. I've had so much on my mind. Wait, what's our theme again?" Sam and Artie both laughed. If Rachel couldn't remember what their theme was for the week in glee—she really must have a lot on her mind.

Out of nowhere, Puck and Finn were suddenly standing behind Rachel. Finn's jaw was tightening. Only Rachel, Puck, or somebody else who knew him really well would know that meant he was seriously pissed off. Completely unconsciously Rachel put a hand to his chest. She could feel him relax under her touch. She glanced at Puck who looked flat out livid. She stomped her tiny foot at both of them.

"Seriously? I'm eating lunch with the girls," she tossed over her shoulder with a glare at both of her boys. "When you've grown a brain to share between you, come find me."

Sam and Artie looked completely bewildered.

"Evans." Puck managed to be civil, but it was killing him. "Wheels."

"Dude, what just happened?" Sam asked.

"Nothing." Puck and Finn stalked off down a separate hall than the one Rachel had taken. Sam and Artie looked at each other and shrugged.

Rachel sat with Mercedes, Brittany and Tina for lunch. She chatted with the glee girls about possible song ideas and how they were doing with their respective boyfriends. Suddenly, Rachel was inspired. She sat up straight and looked at the girls.

"Hey do you guys want to have a slumber party this weekend? At my house?" Mercedes started bouncing up and down and Tina and Brittany looked excited too.

"That would be great, Rachel! We haven't done that in forever!" It was true. Rachel had been so careful to divide her time carefully between her boys that she hadn't been able to hang out with her friends in months.

"What about Kurt? Should I call him?" Rachel pulled out her phone.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Rachel smiled and hit the speed dial on her phone.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"We girls are having a slumber party this weekend at my house, and we would love to see you there, Kurt."

"Uh-huh. What did they do now?"

"I don't know what you mean." Rachel said stiffly into the phone. "Would you like to come or not?"

"Sweetheart, you know I love to see you and spend time with you. However, I can only imagine that there are going to be two seriously pissed off boys when they find out they don't get to spend any time with you this weekend."

"They should be so lucky."

"Ah-ha! I knew it! You are so going to spill this week-end."

"I love you, too, Kurt."

"See you this week-end, tiny ninja." He laughed into the phone.

Kurt was right. She was going to have to make her plans very, very clear to her boys. She really wasn't happy with them, and had refused to speak to them all day. She hunted them down and found them outside tossing a football on the lawn. They stopped and turned to look at her. She had a tight, unhappy expression on her face.

"This isn't going to be good." Puck muttered at Finn who shook his head.

"What's up, Rachel?" Finn tried to sound as calm as possible.

"In view of your earlier behavior, I have decided to completely cancel this weekend's plans. I'll see you both Monday."

"Wait, what?" Finn's face fell. Puck threw the football down.

"C'mon Rachel, for real? You aren't going to see us _at all_?"

She looked even more unhappy.

"You guys just don't get it. You can not flip out on people who are being polite to me. Now if somebody tried to hurt me, or slushied me, or was actually trying to get in my pants, then yes—I would expect you guys to be upset and I would understand why you felt that way. Depending on the severity of the situation I might even applaud you for coming to my rescue. However, Sam Evans has only ever been a perfect gentleman to me. I think he likes Quinn. He stares at her a lot." Both boys grunted at that.

"He can have her," Puck muttered and Finn nodded.

"Anyway. I came to tell you guys I think maybe you should hang out with some friends this weekend. I'm going to have a slumber party with some of the glee girls. Maybe you guys could do a Call of Duty marathon? I don't know. Just do something that doesn't involve moping around the house because you don't get to…" Rachel couldn't finish the sentence. She blushed and they both knew what she was thinking about. Crap, now Puck was thinking about it too. This sucked.

"Okay, Rachel." Finn looked absolutely miserable, he knew that this was happening whether he liked it or not.

Rachel sighed. She moved forward and stroked his cheek gently. She pulled his head down for a quick kiss. Then she turned to Puck who leaned down slightly and kissed her.

"I love you both. Believe me, I will miss you both a lot this weekend, but if you guys really hate this maybe it won't happen again."

Friday night, Rachel had a wonderful time with her friends. Kurt gave everyone makeovers. They stayed up all night laughing and giggling. Kurt cornered Rachel partway through the night.

"I heard what happened. I'm actually proud of you sweetie. I think this was a pretty good compromise. They know they're in trouble. They know you're with a bunch of girls so they aren't worried about you. However, they miss you like crazy if Finn is any indication. He's moped all over the house so much that mom threatened to make him live in the garage." Rachel nodded. She missed them, too. However, she needed to do this.

Saturday was much worse. The girls had all left earlier in the day, and it was Rachel's turn to mope all over the house. Her dads dragged her out to the mall and took her shopping. She was standing in the food court thinking about getting a non-dairy smoothie when her phone started singing R-E-S-P-E-C-T. It was Aretha, so she knew it was 'Cedes. It was a text.

_Party going down tonight. Interested?_ Rachel thought for a minute and then replied.

_Where?_

_Sam's._

_I don't know Cedes. What about Puck and Finn?_

_Gonna be there. Said they wouldn't miss it._ Rachel frowned.

_I don't know. I don't think so._

Mercedes looked up from her phone to Kurt who was dancing behind her trying to see the screen.

"She's out."

"Damnit."

"I don't get it, Kurt. Why do you care so much if Rachel comes out tonight?" Kurt narrowed his eyes at Mercedes.

"Can you keep a secret?" Mercedes tossed her head.

"Duh. Of course, I can."

"Let's just say that I have it on good authority that some major drama will be going down, and if our tiny ninja misses out on it—let's just say the fireworks would be a little too intense." Mercedes laughed

"And you wouldn't want to miss out on a ring side seat?" Kurt shook his head.

"I would never hurt Rachel like that. No, she just needs to be there. And she needs to look smoking hot." Mercedes cocked her head to the side.

"Rachel needs to look smoking hot?"

"Yes. Absolutely. She needs to reek of sexiness."

"Our Rachel?" Kurt swatted her with the Vogue he was flipping through.

"Yes!"

Rachel was still at the mall when her phone rang again. She glanced at the Caller ID and frowned.

"Hello?"

"Hey, look, it's none of my business or anything, but there's some gossip floating around that some of the new girls are gonna make a play for your boys."

"Santana? What? Why are you calling me? I'd think you'd give them all a standing ovation. And what do you mean _my _boys?" Santana snorted through the phone. What an idiot question. Rachel might as well have branded those boys on the forehead, in her opinion. Then again, most of the people at McKinley wouldn't have understood that either. Too many people were too stupid to live, in her opinion.

"Chica, you can lie to yourself all you want, but don't lie to Santana. Those are boys are _yours_, and some sophmores are going to do their damnedest to change that." Rachel felt that red haze of rage cloud her vision again.

"What should I do?" Santana proceeded to tell Rachel exactly what she should do. When she got off the phone, she gave Brittany and Kurt a wicked smile.

"She's in. I think this could be interesting. Maybe I should take bets." Santana started muttering to herself about odds and writing on a piece of paper.

"Okay, Brittany. Now it's your turn." Kurt took her hand and guided her out of Santana's house.

Sam was happy. So far, his party was turning out awesome. Everyone was having a good time, there was good music on the speakers, and no one had broken anything yet. Puck and Finn were hanging out together (as per usual) in a corner of the room. They'd helped him move all the furniture so that everyone would have room to dance. They looked restless.

"What's up guys?" Sam smiled at them. They smiled back and saluted him with their cups.

"Not much, man." Puck took a sip out of his cup.

"Where's Rachel?" Finn shrugged and looked out towards the patio.

"She wanted to do some stuff this weekend. Girl stuff, she said."

"Bummer." Sam was trying be sympathetic, but Finn and Puck never really welcomed conversation that involved Rachel. He glanced at the door, which opened to allow Santana, Brittany and a dark haired goddess entry to his home. He swallowed hard. "Damn." She was wearing a tiny black dress that showed off her golden skin to perfection. Her long legs were shod in strappy heeled black sandals. Her long chocolate brown hair fell in loose curls down her back.

"Holy fuck." Puck almost swallowed his tongue. The dark haired goddess that had every man in the room staring was _his _dark haired goddess. Well, his and Finn's. Finn knew that tone of voice so he turned and his eyes widened in shock. He made a sort of a strangled noise as Rachel spotted them and seemed to wiggle, well, everything, as she walked over to them. She reached Finn first. She pulled his head down for a quick kiss, and hugged him. Then she moved over to Puck, who slid an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, but kept his arm around her waist. She looked over at Sam and wiggled her fingers.

"Hey Sam."

"Unh."

"Nice party. Is Quinn here yet?"

"Unh." Sam appeared to be wandering toward where he had last seen Quinn.

"Well, tell her I said hi." Then she turned her full attention to Finn, who appeared to be in a state of shock. She patted his cheek.

"Finn, baby?" She murmured and he seemed to shake his head for a second.

"Yeah?"

"Baby, are you okay?"

"I don't know yet."

"Finn, right now you normally would be looking at me wearing a hell of a lot less." Said Rachel in exasperation.

"Oh, baby girl, wrong thing to say." Puck muttered in her hair. Finn now looked as if he was seriously in trouble. His eyes appeared to glazing over. She grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the patio. She found a secluded nook and she pulled his head down for another kiss. He gathered her up in his arms and gave her an intense kiss that made her toes curl. His tongue invaded her mouth and took no prisoners. She moaned against his lips and he pulled back, his breathing ragged.

"Geez Rachel. What the hell?" She pulled back and smiled at him.

"Santana and Brittney told me I should come and that I could dance with them. I figured you guys would have to approve of Santana as a bodyguard. I just came to dance and have fun, baby." Finn rested his forehead against hers. He tried taking slow deep breaths. That seemed to work okay. Rachel moved back. He looked at her and could feel his control slipping.

"Fine, but Santana had better do her damn job," he muttered.

"Oh, I will, frankenteen." Santana grabbed Rachel's hand and dragged her toward the living room. She flashed a wicked grin over her shoulder. Finn went to go stand by Puck who was watching Rachel's every move on the dance floor.

"Oh, God," he choked out, "Who the hell taught her _that_?" Finn looked to see what Puck was complaining about. Rachel was basically grinding on the floor with Santana and Brittney. Then all three of them dropped down to the floor. They seemed to be doing some sort of specific dance because they all seemed to know the moves. Puck and Finn stared. They could not help it. Their sweet, beautiful girl was on the floor doing things that they hadn't even fantasized about, and Puck had an exceptionally dirty mind, and an overactive imagination. Finn made a strangled noise again.

A new Cheerio approached Finn and Puck. Finn was the quarterback. Puck was 1st string and a starter. This kind of thing happened to them all the time. They never paid attention to the girls, and eventually they went away. This one seemed to be relying on liquid courage.

"Hey." She giggled up at Finn and batted her eyelashes at him. Another girl joined her and smiled at Puck.

"Do you want to go find something to do?"

Now later, people who were at the party would insist that Rachel had done some kind of crazy ninja flip through the air. ("Mad tiny ninja skills," Sam insisted to anyone who would listen.) All Puck and Finn knew was that all of a sudden their girl was standing behind the two underclassmen with an angelic smile curving her lips. 

"No, he doesn't." She said sweetly to the younger girl, who was actually a couple inches taller than Rachel. She sneered at Rachel.

"What are you like his girlfriend?" Rachel smiled wider.

"Something like that."

The girls didn't want to give up that easily. They turned their attention to Finn who involuntarily took a step back from them.

"What about you, handsome? You want to find something fun to do?" Rachel tapped the girls on their shoulders. They turned and glared at her.

"He doesn't either."

"What is he yours, too?" Rachel's smile turned dangerous. Her eyes narrowed and glinted.

"Yeah, he is. So step off." Her eyes dared them to mess with her. Suddenly, Santana and Brittney were standing at Rachel's back.

"Got a problem, tiny ninja?"

"Just a minor pest problem, but I think it's been taken care of." Santana and Brittney nodded. Then they stared at the new Cheerios. Both girls backed off and left the party shortly after. Santana started laughing and ended up rolling on the floor.

"I…I…I think that one peed her pants. Way to go, hobbit." Rachel flipped her hair expertly over her shoulder.

"Good. I hope she passes it on to whoever set her up for it." Santana looked at Rachel speculatively and smiled.

"Somebody underestimated you." Then she frowned and started muttering under her breath about the odds. She wandered off looking for a piece of paper and a pen.


	4. Ready

Rachel worried about the aftermath of the party on Monday morning at school. It had somehow been arranged so that she had to lay public claim to her boys. What exactly would be accomplished by that? She was so grateful to her glee friends, who perceived her actions as those of any friend who would protect her people from shady people. Santana rolled her eyes at that idea. She scared Rachel because she was a wild card, an unknown variable that she could not control. She proved that by approaching Rachel herself.

"Look, tiny ninja. I don't have a problem with your…arrangement? Situation? Whatever. Don't worry about me, but you should worry. Your problems are coming from somewhere else."

"Well, um, thank you."

"Don't."

"Okay."

Meanwhile, Puck approached Finn at his locker.

"Dude, we gotta talk."

"Okay. Here?"

"No. Uh…in the library?" Finn shrugged and followed Puck to the library.

They sat at a table in the back corner.

"What is it, Puck?"

"Dude, she is _killing_ me. I can't handle this." Finn put his head in his hands.

"Me either," he muttered.

"Have you _seen_ her today?" Puck asked. Finn raised his head, one eyebrow raised in an unspoken question. "I think she's doing it on purpose," Puck growled. Finn rolled his eyes. Just freaking great. Then their girl walked into the library and came almost unerringly to their spot. She was wearing…God…she was wearing this dress that looked really sweet and cute—until you realized that it barely covered her ass and if she stood with the sun behind her you could totally see everything.

She sat down with a flounce.

"We need to talk." The boys looked at her with varying degrees of confusion. Neither one of them had done anything horrible that the other knew about.

"Why?" Finn was blunt, and to the point. Puck and Finn shared a look that each understood immediately. They had to find a way to get her to stop using that phrase. Unless of course, she really was going to break their hearts.

"I'm ready." Rachel nodded to herself to add emphasis to her statement. She was ready. Her boys stared at her. They both looked really confused.

"What are you ready for?" Puck decided he might as well play along. Had they forgotten some sort of date? Finn shook his head slightly. No? Okay. What else was there?

Rachel looked at each of them and gave them her special smile. Finn always thought of it as her 'take me' smile because she gave it to him when she wanted him to kiss her or touch her, and she was trying to encourage him to be bold, and aggressive. He immediately made the connection.

"Wait, you're _ready_? What, now?" Finn looked around the library in a panic. "Rach, I don't think _here_ is the right..." Puck interrupted Finn's rambling.

"You mean _ready_ ready?" His eyes scorched her skin, making her feel like she was on fire.

"Yes."

"Let's go." Puck stood up and grabbed his jacket.

"No." Puck sat back down and began to bang his head, quietly, on the table. "Puck knock it off, we need to talk about this." Puck looked up at her.

"About what exactly? It's pretty easy. I'll show you."

"No that's the thing. How are we going to do this?" Puck stared at Rachel, and then snuck a glance a Finn who looked kind of sad. He nudged Finn who shrugged.

"Okay. We're going somewhere we can really talk. Truck. Now." Puck pushed Finn out to the truck. Rachel sat between them and held their hands.

"What's wrong Finn?" Puck knew that blunt would be better, especially in this situation.

"Who do you want to…" he stopped. Puck thought he knew what the problem was. Finn was self-conscious. He hadn't really had a ton of experience. Everyone knew Puck had a crazy reputation. Who would she pick? She looked kind of confused.

"I have to pick one?" Puck and Finn both blushed. What she was suggesting was something that boys their age thought about—but usually two girls.

"Are you saying you want to lose your virginity in a threesome?" Puck was doing an excellent job with being blunt today. He was kind of proud of himself.

"No! I'm saying that it's a really special thing for a girl and I want you both to be with me." Puck and Finn stared at each other.

"Rachel, I don't know how comfortable we are going to be in that situation." Puck knew he wouldn't be very comfortable with it at all. Finn was blushing furiously.

"We'd be naked…in a room…with each other." Finn was definitely having a hard time processing that.

"And me." Rachel added. "Look you guys have cuddled me together and you've never been weirded out by it."

"I had all my clothes on!" Finn protested.

"We fell asleep that one time," Puck added after thinking for a moment. Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Again, we did have all our clothes on. Yes, my dads were _sooo_ thrilled about that. You know it took me forever to convince them I really, really needed a king size bed. I think the fact that you guys refuse to go away sort of helped them in the decision making process."

"Rachel. I don't mean to be rude or mean or upset you, but Finn and I are going to have to talk about this. You're going to have to give us some time."

"I know." She said it softly. She turned and looked at Finn. He was staring straight ahead. She put her little hands on his face and made him look at her. "I love you, Finn Hudson. I want you. I want you there. Please do this for me." He looked at her face and nodded. She knew he wasn't agreeing to what she'd said. He believed what she said, which was more important to her anyhow. She leaned forward and kissed him. Then she turned to kiss Puck. Puck let her out of the truck. She got out, and then turned back to look at them. She bit her lower lip as she thought for a moment and then made a decision.

"Guys?" They both turned to look at her. "I think you guys should spend this weekend figuring this all out. If it's okay with you, I think I'll do another slumber party with the girls."

"But we didn't get last weekend, either," Puck protested. Rachel got her determined face.

"I know, Noah, and believe me, I miss you both. A lot. However, this is really, really important to me. I want you to focus. If there's nothing to distract you, you will be able to figure out what works for you, and what you're comfortable with."

"Fine." Puck wasn't happy. He wasn't going to lie about it.

Finn wasn't happy either, but he knew that Rachel's plan made a lot of sense. Most of Rachel's ideas were pretty well thought out. She was very smart and kind of devious. And she was _ready_. That alone made it really hard for him to think straight. The whole concept of her expecting him to make everything all beautiful and magical scared the hell out of him. That was a lot of pressure for a guy.

"Hey, Puck, have ever done anything like this before?" Puck knew what Finn was asking. He meant had Puck ever taken anyone's V-card. Puck shrugged. In the past, he'd preferred not to go there. It was too much work, and he hadn't felt there was enough return on the investment. He never thought about Rachel in those kinds of terms. She was different, special.

"I figure it's the same basic principle, you know? We just have to be super gentle, and careful and stuff." Finn snorted.

"She tells me I'm too gentle."

"That's different. I mean…we can't lose control…um…during… and you know…hurt her." Finn could not think about that. He just couldn't. If he thought about it, then he'd think about Puck _with_ her, and he really didn't want to think about that.

"I can't do this." Finn got out of the truck, and left. Puck stared after him. What the hell was he supposed to do? He sighed and looked up a number in his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kurt, this is Puck. I, um, I need your help."

Finn didn't go back to school. He went home, which was empty because Burt and his mom were both at work. He went to his room and laid in bed. He stared at the ceiling. His phone rang, but he ignored it. His phone rang off and on for a while, until he shut it off. He didn't want to play any games. He didn't want to watch tv. He wasn't tired, so he didn't sleep. He had probably been home for a couple hours when he heard the downstairs door fly open and hit the wall. He sat up in surprise. He heard feet pounding up the stairs and then his bedroom door was thrown open. Rachel stood in his doorway, her chest heaving. Her eyes were huge in her face—she looked terrified. She stopped there in the doorway, and just stared at him.

"You shut off your phone."

"Yeah. It kept ringing." Rachel shifted from one foot to another.

"Can I come in?" Finn shrugged. Rachel walked in, and sat on his bed. Finn refused to look at her.

"Sooo. When you told Puck you couldn't do this…did you mean…" Rachel couldn't say it out loud. If she said it out loud, it might make it real. Tears slipped down her cheeks. Damn! She didn't want to cry. She wanted to be able to talk about this.

"What if I'm terrible? What if I hurt you? What if I completely fuck everything up, and you never want to see me again? What if you decide you'd rather be with somebody who's really good at all that?" Rachel was so happy she laughed and hugged his arm.

"This is just about the sex part?" Her chocolate eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"I guess so, but Rachel it's kind of important to me."

"No, it really isn't. Everything you just said wasn't really about sex at all. It was about me liking Puck's skill more than you. You're worried about disappointing me. Have you ever thought that maybe I might worry about disappointing you?" Finn shook his head. That was just stupid.

"You could **never** disappoint me." He was completely serious. Rachel's answering grin lit up her entire face.

"Exactly." Damn it! He hated it when she turned things around on him. He should totally have seen that one coming. Rachel was wearing her 'take me' smile. Finn gathered her in his arms and pressed kisses all over her face.

He needed to feel close to her, and he supposed maybe she felt the same way. Her arms slipped around his neck and she sighed happily against his lips. He stroked her arms and slipped his fingers up under her dress to stroke her back. She moved away from him and turned around. She peeked over her shoulder at him. He unzipped her dress and helped her take it off. She undid her bra and then turned to face him wearing only her panties. His mouth grew dry. She moved back into his arms pressing kissed down his throat. His fingers gently stroked over her skin, making her shiver in his arms. He kissed his way down her neck, across her collarbone. He gently kissed her latest nip mark from Puck. He kissed his way further down and paid tender homage to her breasts. Rachel loved the way he worshipped her chest. He always made her feel like she was the most important person in the world. Finn loved the way she went crazy when he began to suckle her nipples. His favorite noises in the world were Rachel's gasps and breathy moans. His fingers stroked her sides and Finn kissed his way down her torso. He stopped at the waistband of her panties, and looked up at her. Rachel's smile got naughty. Finn took that as permission, and gently slid her panties down her hips.

She was so beautiful. She was utterly exposed to him, and looking at him with such love and trust in her beautiful eyes. It always floored him that she trusted him so completely. Maybe one of the problems he had was that he didn't feel he deserved that trust. He was so afraid of screwing everything up. He took a deep breath.

"I've never ever done this."

"I know." Her response was quiet.

"What if I'm terrible?" Rachel started laughing.

"Uh-huh. Like you're terrible at kissing and everything else you do? I just moan like that to practice vocal exercises?" Finn stuck out his tongue at her. Her eyes filled with desire and she smiled at him.

"Is that a promise?" Puck was right. She was trying to kill him.

He leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to the curls that covered her pubic mound. He gently spread her legs, and started placing tender kisses on her thighs—moving from her knee up her thigh. She gasped and wiggled underneath him. He was a little scared. He really had never done this to any other girl and he wasn't exactly sure what to do. He'd asked Puck once. He'd just smiled this really obnoxious smile and told Finn to 'just dive in'. He stroked her soft folds with his fingers. She gasped again and gave a little moan. He slid a finger inside her. She was really slick. A surge of satisfaction filled him. She wanted him. He had done this to her. He felt proud of himself. Then he felt ridiculous for feeling proud of himself. He carefully parted her, and tentatively licked her delicate folds. The noises Rachel started making now were driving him crazy. He decided to follow Puck's advice and dive in. He put Rachel's legs over his shoulders and buried his face in her pussy. He sucked on her clit. He even, very, very, lightly, nipped it. Was Rachel mewing? Was that even a human noise? He slid two fingers inside her and stroked gently, while he licked, sucked and nibbled the folds of her sex. Rachel started arching off the bed. She was gasping, and moaning and making some kind of noise that he'd never heard. Ever.

"ohmygodfinnpleasedon'tstopohbabyyouareamazing. Ohmygodohmygod." That also was driving him crazy. Then her fingers were clutching his hair and she was screaming his name. Like, at the top of her lungs. Finn was so shocked he sat back in surprise. Thank god his parents weren't home was the only thing he could actually think at that time. She was panting to catch her breath. He pulled her into his arms and stroked her back soothingly. He kissed the top of her head and just held her. It took her awhile to calm down. When she did she gave him the biggest grin.

"As I'm sure you noticed, I was horribly disappointed." Her gentle teasing made him smile.

"Yeah. I did kind of notice." She rolled her eyes and swatted him on the arm.

"Now. It's only fair that I return the favor, right?" Finn's eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Um, Rachel, honey? I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, you were driving me crazy. You could probably blow in my ear right now, and I'd be gone."

"Think about something else." Rachel started tugging on his shirt. She managed to get it off of him all by herself. She got that possessive smirk on her face when she looked at his chest. _Mine_. He knew that's what she was thinking when she got that look.

"I don't think it's going to work this time." Rachel glanced at the clock and the look she gave him wasn't just naughty, it was evil.

"Think about the fact that any minute now, your parents will be home." Damn! She was right! Finn started to panic. There was a naked girl in his bedroom. This could not end well. She started kissing down his chest. It felt good, and he didn't want her to stop, but he couldn't stop staring at the clock and straining to hear the front door open. Rachel undid his button and zipper and had his pants and then his boxers off.

Finn thought maybe it would be best if he just died right now. He knew he was going to have a stroke or something. When she wrapped her tiny hands around him, he closed his eyes and gave quiet moan of desperation. Then his eyes snapped open and he looked at the clock. Rachel pressed her lips to the head of his penis. She tentatively licked him like he was some sort of lollipop or something. It was cute because he could tell she was just as scared and nervous as he had been. He gently stroked her back and she smiled up at him. Then she put her mouth on him and his eyes closed again. He moaned again. He couldn't help it. Then his eyes snapped open and he stared at the clock again.

This was some special kind of hell. Everything she was doing felt so good, but he was terrified the entire time that his parents would come home. Oh my god, she was incredible. She took all of him in her mouth. His eyes widened. He'd seen things like that, but experiencing it was freaking awesome. He felt himself losing control and then he thought he heard a noise. Rachel focused on doing everything that had made him sigh or moan all at one time. Finn came so hard he saw stars. Maybe it was because he held a pillow over his face so no one would hear anything.

"Finn?" It was his mom. He was laying on the bed panting, gasping for air. He couldn't answer if he tried. "Finn, honey? Did you know you left the door open?"

Finn looked toward Rachel in absolute panic. She was trying to shimmy into her dress. He zipped her up and threw his clothes on as quickly as he could. He opened the door and hollered down the stairs.

"Sorry, mom! I'll come close it right now!"

"Thanks honey!" Rachel snuck downstairs behind Finn. She quickly kissed him and ran to her car. He shut the door and wandered back upstairs. He made his bed because it looked as though some sort of natural disaster had taken place. While he was doing that he found Rachel's white cotton panties. She wasn't wearing any underwear. That was so _hot_.

Finn searched for his phone, and finally found it under his bed. He turned it back on and it started beeping, ringing, and vibrating as it started loading all his texts and messages. When it was done he scrolled through them. He had a ton from Kurt, Puck, and Rachel—each one more upset and worried than the last. His voicemail messages were just as bad.

"Finn, this is Kurt. Look, when _Puck_ starts calling me freaking out I figure it must be scary for them. Please talk to them. I can't do anything from Dalton, and I really hate that I'm not there to help out. If you can't talk to them, then call me. Just, don't do anything stupid."

Crap. Finn hit the speed dial for Puck.

"Dude! What the hell?"

"I'm sorry. I just got really upset, and I couldn't deal…you know?"

"No, I don't know because you wouldn't fucking talk to me!" Puck was yelling in his ear. Finn felt terrible. He knew that Puck had actually been really worried about him. He also knew that Puck didn't appreciate having to deal with strong emotions.

"Look, I'm sorry. Really, really sorry."

"You scared the crap out of her, you know? She thought you were done with everything." Finn sighed.

"Dude. I. am. Sorry. Okay? I talked to Rachel. She knows that's not what I meant." Puck grunted into the phone. "Puck, are we cool?"

"I guess so, but dude don't do that again."

"Fine. Now I have to call Kurt before he calls my mom."

"You called me before you called Kurt?" Puck sounded surprised.

"Yeah. You're my best friend, and I bailed on you. That wasn't cool. I needed to deal with that before I deal with Kurt." Puck snorted into the phone.

"Makes sense."

"See you."

"Yeah."

Finn hung up and started dialing again.

"Well it's about time!"

"I had to talk to Rachel and Puck first."

"Uh-huh. I know you already talked to Rachel. She called me. I'm glad you called Puck. He was driving me crazy. I think he was actually worried about you."

"Well, Kurt, we've been through a lot. He's the only other person who really gets it, you know? He's in the same position I am. I mean, you listen, and you care, but you don't think about Rachel that way."

"Eww! No, I don't."

"Look, this is really hard, okay? I try because this is the only way it will work, but it's really hard. If you tell Rachel _or_ Puck this, I will kill you, but sometimes I wonder if maybe it just wouldn't be easier to _not_ try." Kurt was surprised. Finn was struggling to deal with his emotions and the situation. So far, Kurt thought he was doing the best he could. Sure he made mistakes, and did dumbass things. Who didn't? Every person in any relationship made mistakes.

"I don't know, Finn. I couldn't really say if it would be easier either way. Somehow, I doubt it. No matter what, I don't think anything about this will be easy. I guess you need to decide if it's worth it." Finn already knew the answer to that.

"It's worth it."


	5. Too Much At Once

This time, Rachel planned her slumber party with skill and precision. She invited _all_ the girls from glee, including Santana. She called Kurt and explained her concerns. He agreed. Someone was up to something, but who? And what, exactly? Rachel believed Santana. Santana was a grade A bitch, but she wasn't a liar. Could it be Quinn? Rachel wasn't sure. She thought that Quinn really liked Sam, and he seemed to like her back. Rachel racked her brain for days. She watched people at school. She wasn't sleeping well. This was bothering her more than she wanted to admit.

Puck and Finn noticed that _something _was bothering Rachel. She was so distracted that she had a hard time paying attention to anything they said. Puck finally got really frustrated.

"So, Rachel?"

"Yeah?" She wasn't even looking at him. She was frowning and staring at a group of Cheerios at a nearby lunch table.

"Finn and I have decided to drive to Vegas this weekend and visit every whorehouse possible." Finn started choking on his sandwich and stared at Puck in horror.

"That's nice. I hope you boys have fun." She patted his hand absently. Finn turned and stared at Rachel.

"Did she just say we _could_?"

"Yeah. She hasn't heard a damn word we've said. She probably thinks we said we're going to play video games all weekend. You could be stripping on the damn table and she wouldn't notice." Puck stood up and stalked off. Finn was conflicted. Should he go talk to Puck, or try to talk to Rachel?

"Rach?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, would you notice if I stood on the table and started stripping?"

"Not this weekend, baby. Remember, I have that slumber party." Finn's eyebrow arched up his forehead. He stood up and went to find Puck.

Puck was in the weight room beating the crap out of the speed bag. Finn leaned against the door jamb and watched him. It actually looked really therapeutic. Maybe he should do that more often. When Puck was done he was breathing hard and his hands hurt.

"Feel better?"

"No."

"Just checking."

"Well come on, Finn! You can't tell me you're thrilled with being totally ignored." Puck threw a fist into the wall. "Damn it!"

"No. I'm not. Actually, I'm worried. You know how scary smart she is. If she's devoting this much attention to something…it can't be good. She does devious in her sleep." Damn it! Finn was right. Their girl could multitask like nobody's business. She was usually thinking about ten things at once.

"You're right." Finn stared at Puck for a couple seconds.

"Puck, you're hand is bleeding." Puck looked at his hand.

"You're right."

"Hey, girl! You ready for tomorrow night?" Mercedes and Tina sat down at Rachel's table. She glanced up at them. Then she looked around her.

"Wait, where did Puck and Finn go?" Mercedes shrugged and Tina shook her head.

"Did everybody confirm," Tina asked curiously. She wondered if the Cheerios members of glee would join them.

"Yeah. Everybody's in. We'll be downstairs again. Kurt's really excited he said he wants to play games this time." This was part of their plan. Kurt and Rachel had talked for hours planning this. It had to work.

"Really?" Mercedes was surprised.

"Yeah, he said he never got invited back in middle school so we should all humor him." The girls laughed. To be honest, it might be silly, but it sounded like fun.

The next night all of the glee girls showed up at Rachel's house. Even the Cheerios. Everyone screamed and mobbed Kurt when he arrived. He loved seeing the girls. It was kind of like having a fan club, and he enjoyed being adored. Everyone wanted to hear the latest dirt on the whole Blaine situation. Then they decided to paint each others' nails. Rachel was in the kitchen grabbing snacks for everybody.

"Hey, Rachel? I'm going to go grab your box of nail stuff, okay?" Mercedes had been over many times for "diva nights" with Kurt—she knew where most of Rachel's makeup stuff was in her room.

"Yeah, that's fine. Hey! Make sure you grab the black box too! I put more stuff in that one!" Rachel hollered down the hall after Mercedes. She carried all the snacks to the entertaining room and dumped them on the bar. She was arranging everything when Mercedes came in the room carrying two large boxes filled with nail polish, tools, accessories, etc.

"Rachel?"

"Yeah?" 

"When did you get that huge ass bed?" Santana perked up at that. This slumber party might prove to be more fun than she had anticipated.

"You have a huge ass bed?" Rachel was blushing.

"Not too long ago. A few months, I guess."

"Yeah, but why, hobbit?" Santana was smiling.

"The old one broke." She was really blushing now because she knew exactly what Santana was thinking and she was wrong.

"Oh, really?"

"What happened?" Tina was genuinely curious, and she hadn't noticed the subtext taking place between Santana and Rachel. Rachel sighed. This was so humiliating.

"Okay, so Puck and Finn came over to watch movies. One of them—I don't remember who—started a tickle fight. I managed to get away and I ran upstairs to my room. They followed me and they both jumped on my bed at the same time. It was totaled. My dads were furious." Rachel was so nervous that she said it all really fast.

Kurt started laughing. All the girls turned to look at him.

"What's so funny about that?" Mercedes was curious now. Kurt was giggling.

"The…the…phone…call," he panted after a minute. He took a couple deep breaths to control himself.

"The what?"

"Rachel's dads called my dad. They told him that Finn broke Rachel's bed and he needed to help pay for a new one. One with reinforced steel springs. My dad was livid. Finn tried to explain what happened, that it was a tickle fight, but my dad totally wasn't buying it. He ranted and raved at Finn for, like, an hour or two. My dad told him he could have killed Rachel or seriously hurt her, and that if he cared about her at all he would be more careful."

The girls started giggling. Quinn, who had dated Finn before, was really laughing. She was holding her sides and gasping for air.

"He…he thought that _Finn_ was tapping that so hard he broke the bed?" This started fresh gales of laughter. Santana was laughing so hard she was crying. Rachel wasn't laughing. She was thinking. _Huh. Maybe that's why he's always so careful_. It was an interesting theory. It was also plausible. Finn really respected Kurt's Dad, and he also took being a gentleman very seriously.

"So we're going to play Truth or Dare? I've never played!" Kurt was doing a wonderful job. He was such a great actor. Rachel loved him for doing this.

The girls tried to think of ridiculous things to make each other do or say. They made Mercedes call a cute boy that she liked, and ask him out.

"Oh my god! He said yes!" Everyone squealed. Finally, it was Rachel's turn.

"Santana, truth or dare." The look on Rachel's face was determined. Santana was intrigued. Okay, she would bite.

"Truth."

"Do you know _who_ it is?" Ah. The tiny ninja was relentless. She should have known.

"No, actually I don't." Rachel wasn't done.

"Would you tell me, if you did know?" Her eyes bored into Santana's. Santana stared back. Her eyes slid toward Brittany for a split second, but Rachel saw it. Her eyes widened slightly. Oh. Oh!

"Yeah. I would." Rachel nodded. She didn't bother to say thank you because she knew that would just piss Santana off.

"What are you guys talking about?" Quinn looked totally confused. Now Rachel was really worried. If Quinn didn't get their conversation maybe she wasn't a part of it. That just left her back at square one.

"Someone's been trying to start shit with our tiny ninja. She's been trying to figure out who." Everyone in the room was surprised. Except Santana, Rachel, and Kurt. Great. Just great. Now what?

"Why would anyone want to do that?" Tina asked.

"I honestly can't figure it out," Rachel confessed. "I can't think of any reason why anyone would care enough to start anything."

"Maybe it's a rival show choir team," suggested Brittany.

"What like the whole Jesse thing?" Santana scoffed. "I don't think so Britt."

Rachel decided that the whole night was a complete bust. She tried to have fun and enjoy herself, but the wheels in her head just kept spinning.

Monday morning found Puck and Finn waiting by Rachel's locker. The first bell rang. Puck and Finn looked at each other. _Where was she?_ Rachel was never late. Never. They walked to class. Neither one of them had first period with Rachel. They didn't see her until lunchtime. She seemed happy to seem them, but distracted. She was on the phone.

"No. No! I checked three times." She rolled her eyes and tapped her foot. She snorted.

"She wishes." She started twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. "Uh-huh. Well, I didn't check that yet. Maybe. I kind of doubt it though. What? No! No, I'm telling you, I think she was telling the truth. She's a bitch, but she's not a liar. Okay, yeah, sweetie, I kind of have to go my boys are here." Her boys looked surprised. Rachel was always very careful. She would usually say Puck and Finn never _my boys_. "Kurt says hi." Oh. That explained it. Rachel put her phone in her purse. She smiled at both of them.

"Where were you this morning?" Finn asked.

"Here. This morning I was in the ballet room doing some exercises. I just had a lot of nervous energy and it was a way to get rid of it." The boys both frowned. Rachel sighed. It was getting harder and harder to keep this from them, but until she knew what she was dealing with—it was better this way. Kurt had even agreed. Puck rubbed his Mohawk absently. Finn was shaking his head slightly at him, but he couldn't figure out why. She gasped and grabbed his hand, which happened to be bandaged. Oh, yeah. That was why. She glanced at Finn quickly—to check for bruises probably. Geez, didn't she trust them?

"It's okay, Rachel." Finn was trying to be calm and soothing.

"It's _Okay_? What the hell is this?" Puck looked up at the ceiling.

"I kind of punched a wall."

"Why?"

"I was kind of frustrated."

"But, it's okay. We talked a lot this weekend, Rach. A _lot_. We think we have everything figured out." His eyes pleaded with her. She frowned. Then her eyes got really big.

"Everything?" The boys looked at each other and then nodded.

"We think we can make this work." Puck hoped they could anyway. It sort of hinged on Finn not panicking. Puck wasn't really sure how well that was going to work for them.

"Really?" Her voice had gotten all breathy and her eyes grew soft. The boys shifted uncomfortably. She really should not be allowed to do that at school.

"Yeah."

The rest of the day passed quickly for all of them. Rachel had a lot to think about. Almost too much to think about.

Call it what you will, Fate…Kismet…Destiny…but Rachel's dads were both called out of town on a work emergency. They trusted their daughter implicitly. She was very responsible and had never disappointed their faith in her. They left Friday morning before she left for school. She kissed and hugged them both.

"I love you, drive safely!"

She was nervous. Butterflies danced around in her stomach. She thought perhaps they had invited friends because she felt like she was going to hurl at any minute. She ended up in the bathroom with dry heaves between periods. When she got out of the bathroom they were there, waiting. Geez, it was like they had radar or something.

"What's the matter? You look sick." Finn was worried about her. He'd been worried about her for days.

"I'm just nervous." Both boys looked perplexed.

"Why? Do you have some kind of test? Wait, we don't have a test do we?" Finn couldn't believe she would forget to remind him about a test, but she _was_ acting weird lately. She was staring at her shoes and mumbling. Puck touched her elbow gently.

"What did you say?" She sighed and looked at them. She was blushing furiously. Now they were even more confused.

"My dads are gone all weekend. Work emergency." Finn suddenly found it really hard to focus on anything. Puck elbowed him and shook his head slightly. Oh yeah. They had a plan. Right. What was it again?

"So shorty, we kind of have a plan. Can we go over to your house before you to kind of set it up?" Rachel nodded.

"Okay, I guess. When can I come home?" Puck thought for a couple minutes.

"I don't know. Maybe at five, just to be safe." Rachel blinked at both of them and then nodded. She kind of wandered off down the hall and they trailed after her.

"Is she okay?" Finn whispered at Puck.

"Not sure, yet."

Rachel spent the rest of the day in a daze. She went to ballet club after school and went through the exercises, but it didn't stop her mind from spinning. She was walking out of the school with her dance bag slung over her shoulder when she noticed that Ms. Pilsbury-Howell was still in her office. She immediately went in and sat down. Emma was surprised to see Rachel in her office.

"What can I do for you?" Rachel sat there for a minute chewing on her lower lip.

"What if you know someone is trying to sabotage you, but you don't know who and you don't know why?" Emma blinked.

"Well, how do you know that's happening? Do you have any proof?"

"No, not exactly. I have some reliable sources." Emma smiled slightly and shook her head.

"Rachel, sometimes a rumor is just a rumor. Your sources might be reliable, but maybe _their_ sources weren't. Unless you have some kind of tangible proof, I would relax a little. No one has sent you any kind of notes have they? Or sent you messages online?" Rachel bit her lower lip.

"No. No. Nothing. That's the problem. I can't figure out who or what or why and it's driving me _crazy_!"

"Do you really want my opinion?" Rachel nodded.

"Relax. It may just be nothing. Giving yourself bleeding ulcers over some silly rumors is not going to help you at all." Rachel thought about that for a few minutes. Maybe Ms. Pilsbury-Howell was right. Maybe it was just a rumor. Why was she obsessing over this so much? She glanced at the clock.

"Oh, no! It's almost five!" She jumped up and took off out the door, texting as she ran down the hall.

_Sorry! Sorrysorrysorry. On my way. 3 u!_

Puck snorted to himself.

"She's on her way. Did you get all of the candles lit?" He hollered up the stairs to Finn. Finn came down the stairs with his phone in his hand.

"I got it, too. Yeah, everything is ready."

"Okay, cue lights." Puck turned down all the lights so that the only light came from little votive candles that led up the stairs. They had strewn rose petals up the stairs and leading to Rachel's room. "Did you turn on the music?" Finn nodded. Rachel's ipod had a playlist that she had named "Romantic" and he had it playing in her room.

Both of the boys were nervous. Not dry heaving in the school bathroom nervous, but close. They hoped their plan would work. Puck snuck a look at Finn, who looked pretty close to panicking. He punched him in the shoulder.

"Man, pull it together. We got this! Just remember the plan." Finn swallowed and nodded. They had a plan. Actually he thought their plan was brilliant. Tonight was kind of a trial run—to make sure that they could do this. Rachel was rubbing off on them. They had made a chart and figured out everything they were and weren't okay with. Finn had had to be embarrassingly honest with Puck about some of his issues, but Puck hadn't been obnoxious or an asshole about it. He just shrugged and said that it happened. That actually made Finn feel better about everything.

The door opened and Rachel peeked around it. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the candles and the rose petals. She got this really big grin and came into the house the rest of the way. She shut the door behind her.

"Candles and rose petals?"

"It's all romantic and junk." Puck was proud of himself. She giggled.

"It looks really nice. Thank you." She kissed each of them on the cheek. She looked around at everything. "So, now what?"

"Well that's the thing, tiny ninja, we're not totally sure. Finn and I made a chart of what we are and aren't comfortable doing. But, we don't really know how we'll react…or if we can handle everything okay. We just want to spend some time with you tonight. We want to see if we are even able to do this the way you want."

"So we aren't going to…go all the way, tonight?" The boys shook their heads. She felt kind of relieved, but also a tiny part of her was disappointed.

"You want some dinner?" Finn hovered at her elbow. She smiled up at him and touched his chest with her palm. She could feel the muscles unknotting and relaxing under her fingers.

"I would love some dinner." They had made her dinner? This was so cute. She had to remember all of this to tell Kurt. He would be so proud of Finn!

Puck and Finn had prepared a vegetable pad thai for Rachel. It was delicious and wonderful and perfect. They had obviously tried very, very hard to make this as romantic and sweet as possible. They watched a movie together cuddled on the couch. Rachel ended up with her head in Puck's lap and her feet in Finn's lap. He stroked her legs absently as he watched the movie. Puck stroked her hair and caressed her shoulder. This was actually really nice, very relaxing. She had needed this. It had been over two weeks since they had done their Friday afternoon movie date.

After the movie, they trailed upstairs. She opened the door to her room and gasped. They had made it look absolutely beautiful. Her ipod was playing her "Romantic" playlist. She grinned at both of them. It was perfect. Everything was perfect. She hugged them both.

"Thank you." She went into the bathroom and when she came out she had on her boy shorts and tank top. Puck's usual nip mark was missing from her shoulder because he hadn't had access to it in over two weeks. Puck went into the bathroom next and came out wearing just a pair of briefs. Finn came out with a white t-shirt and boxers on. Rachel sat in the middle of her bed under the covers and the boys joined her. They just kind of sat there for a couple minutes.

"Cuddling?" Puck decided that had to be pretty safe. They had cuddled before and it hadn't freaked anybody out. And by anybody he meant Finn.

They snuggled into the bed together. Puck turned on his side and started caressing Rachel. He gently stroked her hip and shoulder. Finn turned on his side and kissed her forehead. He then trailed soft, gentle kisses down her brow, her neck and her shoulder. She gave a happy sigh and started to caress them back. Her little hands roamed everywhere. She looked at Finn.

"Finn?" She looked at him with those chocolate eyes. He knew what she wanted. He pulled his shirt off. He was not ripped like Puck. For whatever reason, Rachel didn't care. She liked to touch _him_. She smiled and lightly raked her nails down his chest. He sucked in his breath and then gave an involuntary groan. Then she moaned because Puck had found a nipple and was laying claim to it. Finn decided to claim her other breast and soon she was making all kinds of noises. Her fingers stroked down their backs. Puck moved up and kissed her, his tongue sliding into her mouth. Finn annexed the other breast and began to tease the nipple with his fingers.

The whole night passed in a sort of blur for Rachel. She was being touched _everywhere_ all at once. Fingers and lips and teeth seemed to be stroking and kissing and nibbling every inch of her body. At some point, it was no longer a trial run. Finn looked at her. He looked very serious and slightly scared.

"Are you _sure_?" She nodded. Somehow, Puck and Finn had decided that because Finn was so careful and gentle with her—he would be the best to…well…break the ice, so to speak. Puck was kind of wrapped around her head and shoulders. He was stroking her hair and raining kisses on her face and whispering soft words of encouragement in her ear. He threaded his fingers through hers and stroked the palm of her hand with his thumb. Finn very, very carefully entered her. He tried to hold himself up a little—he was terrified of crushing her. She was so tight, and hot and wet. He closed his eyes and just breathed in and out for minute. He looked at Puck who nodded. He was doing fine. He looked at Rachel who was smiling shyly at him. He leaned down carefully and kissed her. She wriggled impatiently against him and his eyes rolled back in his head.

"Rachel, be careful." Puck whispered in her ear. Finn began to move inside her and she threw her head back and moaned. Puck began kissing her and stroking her breasts because Finn was busy trying to concentrate on not losing it. Rachel was moving with him and it was just too much. He shuddered over her. He dropped a kiss on her forehead and moved to lay next to her. Puck looked at Finn who was flushed and looked slightly embarrassed.

"Finn? You did fine. Especially considering. Just remember what we said." Finn nodded. He closed his eyes for a second. Then Rachel pulled his head to hers and looked right in his eyes.

"I love you." She kissed him.

Puck moved so that he was between Rachel's legs. He slid inside her. Jesus. He knew why Finn lost it. He just might. She was like heaven. He began to move inside her. Finn was kissing her and stroking her arms and shoulders and breasts. Rachel moved with him and he bit the inside of his cheek so he could stay focused. This was different to anything he'd ever done, ever experienced. She was different. She was also really close to losing it herself. It probably helped that she was being touched, teased, and stroked by both of them. Puck paced himself and made sure that he was ready when she started bucking beneath him and screaming both his name and Finn's.

They cuddled together with the boys lazily stroking whatever part of her was handiest.

"So Finn, we got a screamer on our hands. That should prove interesting." Finn grinned a smug grin. This had actually worked. They had pulled it off.

"Maybe we could gag her?" She squealed and smacked them both.

"You will do no such thing!"

Almost unconsciously they figured out the sleeping arrangement. Rachel had turned and cuddled against Finn's chest. He had a hand on her ass. Puck was spooned against Rachel's back with a hand on her breast. They slept that way all night.

After that night, they reverted back to their regular schedule. Puck and Finn had achieved a new level of respect for one another. They were able to talk to each other about insecurities, problems, issues, etc. when it came to their girl. That was probably for the best. Being able to communicate with each other was the only way to make this thing work.

Finn found that once he was comfortable being with Rachel a lot of his issues, such as 'arriving early' seemed to fade. Once they'd had sex, a kiss just wasn't enough to send him over the edge anymore. Puck found that he was grateful for all his experience. He needed it to keep up with his hot little Jewish American princess. What she lacked in experience she made up for in enthusiasm. Rachel was ecstatically happy. She had everything. It couldn't possibly get better than this, could it?


	6. Everything Ends

_A/N: Warning! There is a brief (non-explicit) attack on a female person. I'm not going to dwell on the attack so much as the aftermath. Sometimes, people don't realize how bad a situation is, until something external draws your attention to it._

Jacob ben Israel cornered Rachel in the hall at school. Her skin crawled whenever he came near her. He had made it very clear—on multiple occasions—that he wanted her. Honestly, she would rather die slowly and painfully than ever let him touch her.

"I have some very interesting news that will be going on my blog later today." Jacob leered at her. Rachel unconsciously leaned away from him.

"Really? Like what? Another scandal with the cheerios?" Rachel rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I heard from a little birdie that Puck and Finn are the new power couple in glee." Rachel's stomach dropped. Someone was stepping up their game. Puck could probably laugh this off. His sexual reputation was almost legendary at McKinley. Finn wouldn't be able to laugh this off. It would bother him for a number of reasons—one of them being that he would feel like it shouldn't matter, and yet it would. So now somebody was trying to hurt her by hurting her boys.

"What?"

"The rumor mill says that Puck and Finn are an item, and that you're their gay beard." Rachel started laughing. Jacob looked irritated.

"On what planet are Finn and Puck a couple?"

"I have pictures of cozy little moments that I plan on posting along with my story."

"Really? Are they kissing? Making out? Holding hands?" Rachel had her arms crossed over her chest.

"No, but they don't have to be. It'll go viral immediately. The star quarterback cuddling up with his fellow teammate? That's gossip gold right there."

"But it's so ridiculous! Why would anyone believe it?"

"Neither one of them has a girlfriend, or has had a girlfriend since last year. They've both been hanging out together since last year. It all makes sense."

"If you're completely mental!" Rachel waved her arms at Jacob. Then she paused and frowned. "Wait. So, if they had girlfriends—you wouldn't post the story?"

Jacob shrugged. If they had girlfriends, the story would be laughed at. It would be ridiculous.

"But they don't have girlfriends. So it doesn't matter." Rachel got a determined glint in her eye.

"We'll see about that. Jacob, would you please _not_ post that story? I can tell you that Finn and Puck are both interested in girls and I know each of them likes someone in particular. You wouldn't want to ruin their chances at happiness, would you?"

Actually, Jacob would love to do that, but he was fine with this plan too.

"Sure, Rachel, but you'll owe me." He smiled at her and her skin crawled. She took off down the hall.

Finn and Puck were standing by her locker, waiting. She hurried up to them, her chocolate eyes were wide and distressed.

"We need to talk." Puck counted to ten in his head and then turned to look at her.

"You have _got_ to stop saying that! Relationships 101…only use that phrase if you're breaking up with somebody." She took a deep breath and blinked back tears.

"We need to talk," she said again quietly. Her voice sounded strained. She started walking and they followed her staring at her back and occasionally at each other. What the hell? She went into the choir room because it was empty that time of day. She explained everything that Jacob had told her.

"So we…we can't see each other anymore. You both have to date. As soon as possible." Rachel wrapped her arms around her middle. She refused to look at either one of them.

"Did you hit your head or something?" Puck looked genuinely concerned. She snorted and shook her head at them both.

"I'm serious. I'm breaking up with you both. We have to do this. Otherwise, it's going to be awful."

"Rach, you can't do this. You can't just blow us off!" Finn was shocked. His heart was breaking in his chest. Tears slipped down Rachel's cheeks.

"I would never blow you off, Finn. Or Puck. I love you both. I'm trying to do this _for_ you. I'm trying to protect you." Finn shook his head. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be.

"Who gives a crap, Rachel? So what if he posts the stupid story?" Puck was angry, but he was also scared. She could not be serious about this.

"You guys realize what will happen? I…I can't let that happen if I can stop it. Besides, I knew this would never last forever. It was just too crazy, too impossible." Rachel was crying harder now and it made it harder to understand what she was saying. The boys just stood there, their hands hanging at their sides. Finn was trying not to cry. He was clenching his jaw so tightly he thought it might break. Puck's face was always more expressive. He looked so sad.

"Please don't" Puck's voice was thick with unshed tears. "I love you."

"Me too. I love you, Rach. Please," Finn pleaded. He moved forward to take her hand and she backed away from them.

"I can't. I can't. I can't." she chanted raggedly. Then she turned and fled the choir room.

Life was like one big long nightmare. She was alone all the time. Tina and Mercedes seemed to understand that something weird had happened and they closed ranks around her. Still, she was alone. Kurt came and visited as often as he could. Rachel started driving to visit him and Blaine at Dalton. It was easier and she had fewer memories.

Glee was the hardest part of school. They wouldn't ignore her. In fact, they refused to do that, which is what she had asked them to do. They were polite and friendly. They acted like Sam. This was still unusual behavior for Puck, but everyone knew Rachel was his friend. She almost wished they would ignore her or something. It would be easier, less painful.

Weekends were the worst. She had to wash all of her bedding because she could still smell them on her pillows, and it made it hurt too much.

Rachel knew something was wrong when Puck started deliberately avoiding her. She couldn't figure out what was going on until Santana shifted in her seat and Rachel saw a faint bite mark on her shoulder. Oh. That was why. She stood up.

"Rachel?" Mr. Schue looked at the tiny brunette. Her face was incredibly pale and she looked faintly green.

"I have to go. Now." She bolted from the room. She was curled up in the bathroom when Mercedes found her.

"Rachel?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"I don't think so."

Finn hated this. He hated all of it. He asked a couple girls out, like she had asked him to. He was miserable. None of them were her. None of them came close to her. He ended up dating a cheerio, which he figured was what she wanted him to do. She was pretty. She seemed nice enough. She wasn't Rachel. She would never be Rachel. Kurt tried to talk to him, but he really wasn't in the mood. He was doing what he was supposed to, right?

Puck had entered into a self-destructive pattern. He became a lot more active in his fight club. He started sleeping with Santana. Sometimes, if he closed his eyes it was almost her. Not quite, but almost. He and Finn were still friends, but they couldn't talk about this—not without breaking down and crying like little kids. He did get Finn involved in his fight club, which was actually very good for him—really therapeutic.

They ended up spending a lot of time in the weight room working out. Finn was getting pretty ripped, but he sort of had to if he didn't want to get his ass kicked in Puck's fight club. They both got leaner and meaner. Nobody really knew why. It helped their football and basketball games so no one really questioned the changes.

This sucked. They both agreed to that. What could they do to change it? Nothing. Their girl didn't want them anymore. That's what really hurt. Puck's chest always felt a little tight when he glimpsed her loose chocolate curls bouncing down the halls of McKinley. Finn just felt hollow inside—like part of him was gone. Kurt found Finn sitting in his room crying into what he thought was a handkerchief, but turned out to be a pair of Rachel's panties she'd left behind once. There was a huge ick factor there for Kurt, but at the same time he felt so bad for Finn. What a fucking mess.

He went to see Rachel not long after that. He was scared by what he found. She looked a little too thin and there were circles under her eyes.

"Hey Kurt," her voice sounded listless. She motioned him into the house.

"Rachel, honey, _why_ are you doing this? To yourself? To them? Honey, they are just as miserable as you are, trust me." Rachel gave a bitter laugh. Kurt frowned at her. "I'm serious. Did you know Finn participates in a fight club now? He says it's the only time he doesn't feel dead inside."

Rachel's eyes widened in shock. A fight club? Her Finn? It seemed completely preposterous.

"What about Puck? He seems happy," she muttered sadly. Kurt snorted.

"Yeah, because self-destructive death spirals are what all the happy people do."

"Kurt, what am I supposed to do? Somebody has planned this. I don't know why, I don't know who, I don't understand. It makes absolutely no sense. I'm just trying to protect them. That's all."

"I know, sweetie, I know." He held her while she cried. She really was getting too thin.

A week or so later, she passed out in glee club. Puck and Finn were on the floor next to her so fast it was like magic.

"Rach? Rachel?" Finn was patting her hand and Puck was patting her cheeks lightly. Her eyelids fluttered open.

"What…what happened?"

"You fainted." Puck's voice was strained. Mercedes moved closer and brushed Rachel's hair out of her face.

"What did you eat today?" Her voice was quiet, serious. It sounded like a question she asked Rachel a lot. Rachel's cheeks turned pink.

"I forgot. I'm sorry 'Cedes." Mercedes sighed.

"It's okay, girl. C'mon." Puck and Finn shared a look. This was bad. Really, really bad.

It was probably a couple weeks later, and Rachel was alone in the choir room practicing a song she wanted to do for glee during a free period. Mr. Schue had given his permission for her to use the space to practice in.

"Rachel?" She turned to see Jacob ben Israel standing in the doorway. He moved into the choir room and Rachel reflexively flinched back from him.

"What do you want Jacob?" She was tired. So tired all the time. She couldn't deal with him right now. He smiled and it chilled her blood.

"You. I've always wanted you, but you knew that—you little tease." She stood up. This was not funny.

"That's too bad, Jacob. I'm not interested. I thought I made that clear. More than once. I'm pretty sure Puck and Finn made that clear too." Suddenly, a light went on in her head. "Puck and Finn. That's why. It was _you_."

Rachel suddenly felt very, very cold. Jacob grabbed her arm suddenly and tried to pull her to him. Rachel would never know what really happened next. She felt sick any time she ever thought about it. She knew she fought him. She knew it was harder than it should have been because she'd dropped so much weight and muscle mass. She knew he slapped her several times and tried to grab at her. She knew she managed to get away, but her sweater was ripped and her cheek was bleeding. Tears were falling into the cut and it stung. She remembered that part, too. She ran out into the hall and ran into Mr. Schue.

"Oh my God! Rachel!" She fainted in his arms. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her down the hall to the nurse's office. He called her parents and the police.

Finn was in History when he overheard.

"Did you guys hear? Some girl was attacked. They had to take her away in an ambulance."

"I heard she was raped."

"Who was it?"

"One of those gleeks…um…what's her name? You know, the really short one?" _Oh my god. Nononononono_. There was a roaring sound in Finn's ears. A red haze seemed to be settling over his vision.

"Oh! Berry! Rachel Berry!" His fists clenched at his sides. He jumped up and ran out of the room.

Santana told Puck. She found him in the weight room, beating the crap out of the speed bag.

"Sit down, Puckerman." He glared at her and continued to punch the bag.

"Fuck off."

"Sit. Down. Now." He sat.

"Are you happy now?" Santana shook her head.

"No. I'm not. Your girl needs you, Puck. Focus on her. You can go to jail later. Hell, I may help you."

"My girl?" Puck frowned.

"Rachel. She needs you. Just remember, focus on her. Nothing else matters, okay?" Then Santana turned and left. Rachel needed him? He could go to jail later? What the hell was that supposed to? Oh god no. He jumped up and he ran for the office. He almost knocked Finn down when he got there.

"What happened? Where is she?" Finn's face was white and tight.

"I heard attacked or raped," Finn whispered. He couldn't feel his lips. It felt weird to talk. Puck blanched. They both went in together.

"Mr. Schue, is Rachel still here?" He looked at both boys who looked absolutely terrified.

"No. They took her to the hospital." Finn looked like he was going to start crying. Puck's eyes were suspiciously wet looking. Mercedes and Tina drove Puck and Finn to the hospital. The boys just sat in the back staring straight ahead of them.

The police were there talking to Rachel's dads. This was bad. Really, really bad.

"We were stupid to agree to this." It was the only thing Finn could think to say. "We should have told her no."

"What are you talking about?" Mercedes looked confused. Puck shrugged. He didn't care anymore. Santana was right—Rachel was the only thing that mattered.

"She said she couldn't be with us anymore because it was damaging our reputations. She refused to see us."

"If we'd been around, it never would have happened. Never." Finn growled and started pacing.

Mercedes and Tina looked back and forth between the two grieving boys. Mercedes thought about Rachel and her recent behavior. She was so sad all of the time. She forgot to eat, she couldn't sleep. She was so listless. She thought back to the conversations she would have with Kurt. When Rachel was doing better or doing worse, his first questions were always about whether or not Puck and Finn were talking to her or interacting with her. Always. She thought back to the time Puck and Finn had that huge fight—and Rachel had been so devastated. And Finn and Puck were so worried about her. Kurt was so mad, and so protective of Rachel. The wheels were turning furiously in Mercedes mind. It was always Puck, Rachel and Finn. She remembered when Rachel stopped sitting between them in glee, and started sitting with her and Tina. How the boys (everyone thought of them that way) would shoot her sad puppy looks when they thought she couldn't see. At the time, she'd thought they'd done something stupid and she was pissed off at them. That happened on a regular basis. Boys will be boys. Right?

The police left and Finn and Puck immediately went over to Rachel's dads. They each hugged both of her dads. That's when Finn started crying. One of her dads patted Finn on the back. Puck knuckled away tears. Mercedes came over, but she felt like she was intruding.

"Sirs? Is she going to be okay? Can we see her?"

"Oh, Mercedes! She'll be glad that you came. She's with the nurses right now. They have to collect samples. We can probably see her in a little bit."

"But she's okay? I mean, she's not in critical condition or anything?"

"I hope she's okay. From what I understand she wasn't injured too badly in a physical sense. We're more worried about the possible emotional trauma. Did you call her therapist, dear?" Mr. Berry turned to his husband.

"Yes, sweetie. I made her an appointment. It's all arranged."

A nurse came out and hurried over to Rachel's dads.

"Did you bring a change of clothes? What she wore in here is evidence and the police need to take it with them."

They handed her a duffel bag, which she took with her to Rachel's room. After what seemed like an eternity, her dads were allowed to see her. When they came out they told Puck and Finn to go in. The boys hovered anxiously in the doorway, afraid to scare her or upset her. She looked at them with hollow eyes.

"What are you doing in the doorway?"

"Can we come in?" She sighed.

"Yes." They sat gingerly on the seats. Her face was starting to discolor into ugly bruises and her cheek had a butterfly bandage. Finn stared at her for a moment and then started crying again. Tears fell silently down Puck's cheeks. "Please don't," she begged.

"Can't help it," Puck muttered.

"We love you, Rachel. Tried stopping. Can't. We just do. Sorry." Finn managed to get that much out, but then he became pretty much incoherent. Rachel couldn't really think or feel at the moment. She felt numb inside and out. The only thing she really knew was that she was cold. So cold.

"They said I can go. Will you come home with me and my dads?"

This was more than they'd hoped for so they both agreed to that.

"Let me tell Mercedes, she brought us." Puck left the room for minute.

"Why didn't you drive over yourselves?" Rachel looked confused. Finn shook his head.

"Didn't know what happened. We thought that…that…" he couldn't finish the sentence and looked like he might start crying again.

"Oh."

Rachel's dads were quiet on the drive to her house. They set her up in the living room on the couch with a big, thick quilt and some tea. The boys sat in a couple chairs across the room from one another. They stared at Rachel.

"Do you want to…watch a movie?" Puck asked after a half hour or so.

"Maybe some Barbra?" Finn suggested. Puck gave him a grateful nod. Rachel shrugged.

"I guess so." She seemed to huddle under the blanket. She watched the movie with the boys sitting in their chairs and watching her every move. Puck and Finn would never remember what movie it was. They weren't watching it—they were watching Rachel. They left later, after the movie was over, after pressing gentle kisses to her forehead.

They came everyday and sat with her. Her dads were incredibly grateful because it meant they didn't have to worry so much when they weren't home. They made her eat. They watched over her while she slept on the couch in the living room. She seemed to be getting a little better, but they were worried. They called Mercedes over and had her spend the afternoon with Rachel.

"Actually, this is better than before the attack," Mercedes seemed happy.

"Are you joking?" Puck was incensed. _This_ was _better_?

"No, I'm not. She wasn't eating or sleeping before the attack. At least she's doing that now. It looks like she might actually be gaining weight, which is wonderful. She's about ten pounds underweight right now and at her height—that's a lot. She doesn't seem quite as listless or as tired. She's better."

"Why would she put herself through all that?" Finn was appalled. Mercedes turned and looked at him.

"Because she thought it was worth it. Because she thought you were both worth it. She was trying to protect you, isn't that what you said?"

"I knew we should have said no," Puck muttered.

"We _did_ say no. Repeatedly. She ignored us." Finn rubbed a hand over his face.

"What now?" Puck was looking at Mercedes. She frowned as she thought about it.

"You guys have been treating her like she's this delicate, breakable thing, right?" They nodded.

"We didn't want to scare her."

"I think you did fine in the beginning. Try to treat her the way you used to. Try acting normally around her. See how she responds. If she gets scared or nervous—you have to talk to her about it. Like, immediately."

"Okay."

The next day, they put on a movie for Rachel, but this time they sat on the couch with her and cuddled her. She didn't say anything, but she seemed almost happy.

_A/N: I don't really like to explain plot nuance—I hope my writing is able to explain itself—however, because of the subject matter I felt I ought to interject something here. Rachel was already really depressed and unhappy (for a variety of reasons) before she was attacked. Unfortunately, the only person in her life who truly understood everything that was going on with her situation lives at Dalton Academy. (Darn him, anyhow!) So I wanted to make sure that you, gentle reader, understood that most of Rachel's problems are stemming from unresolved issues involving her boys. I would like to think that if she hadn't been depressed, exhausted, and underweight our tiny ninja would have kicked ben Israel's ass to NYC and back._


	7. One Day at a Time

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who made this a favorite story. It makes me all giddy! _

Mercedes called Kurt on a regular basis to update him about Rachel, but now she had some questions of her own.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"I have some questions…I'm not sure I did the right thing, and now I'm kind of worried."

"O—kay, what are your questions?"

"Well, you know that the boys have been coming and sitting with her everyday, right?" Mercedes knew that Kurt would understand—there were never any other boys, but Finn and Puck, when it came to Rachel.

"Yes, and you told me she was doing so much better. Has that changed?" Mercedes could hear the worry in Kurt's voice. Rachel hadn't been doing well for some time—and it scared both of them. She may have been annoying, obnoxious, and overly confident in her own talent, but Mercedes had grown to like her despite all that. No one deserved to be as miserable as Rachel had been.

"Nooo. It's just that, the boys were concerned." Well, horrified might be more accurate. "So I suggested that they try to start treating her normally, and not like she's going to break any second."

"Uh-huh. So how has that been working out?"

"I'm not sure. That's why I'm calling you. They were sitting on those chairs and watching her like a hawk as she sat on the couch. Now they sit with her on the couch. She seems pretty much the same. She hasn't said anything about it. I checked with them and they said she hasn't talked about it to them either."

"So, wait. They're just sitting with her on the couch? Are they actually treating her the way they did before? Or are they just sitting closer to her?" Mercedes sighed in frustration.

"I'm not exactly sure, Kurt. I have the feeling that I missed out on a lot, before. I don't know how they treated her exactly. You might want to come check on her. Just to be sure. I don't want her to stop getting better."

"What do you mean, you missed out on a lot?" Kurt's voice sounded blasé, which she knew meant he was trying to sound casual. Mercedes rolled her eyes, even though she knew he couldn't see her.

"Really? Are you gonna play it like that? Gee, Kurt, let's think. I've got Rachel who suddenly decides to sit with Tina and me in glee. Instead of sitting between Puck and Finn, like she had since last year. Now the whole time she's sitting with me, we're getting sad puppy eyes from across the room from those boys. She's sad all the time, but can't really talk about why. She forgets to eat, she can't sleep, and she's basically imploding in front of me. When she faints in glee, those boys shoot across the room like they've got magic powers. At the hospital, they were crying like their world was ending. You tell me, what the hell is going on?"

"Well it certainly doesn't sound like you missed anything," muttered Kurt in irritation.

"What about that fight? Remember when Puck and Finn fought each other? She was absolutely hysterical and I had never seen you so mad. You specifically said that they weren't allowed near her. What is going on, Kurt?"

"What do you think is going on?" Mercedes screamed. Just a little one. She was so tired of getting half-truths and evasions.

"Kurt Hummel, don't you dare treat me like this! Have I or have I not been there the whole time? Have I or have I not proven that I can be a good friend to you and Miss Rachel Berry?"

"I'm sorry Mercedes. I really am. Normally, I would love to dish, but I'm so worried about Rachel. I can't risk anything that would set her back. I will come see her tomorrow."

"Fine." She didn't have to like it, but she agreed that Rachel's health was more important than anything else.

Rachel had gone back to school because that was the kind of person she was. She didn't let anything stand in her way. She knew that some people (her dads, Kurt, Mercedes, Puck and Finn) wished that she would stay home and focus on getting better. What they didn't realize was that being able to go to school—being able to feel a little bit normal—was good for her. Maybe other people would need to heal in a different way. She wasn't other people—she was Rachel Berry.

They followed her everywhere. She wasn't sure how they did it—maybe Mr. Schue helped them get permission from the school—but they were always with her. Always. If they didn't have a class with her, they dropped her off and picked her up. They even followed her to the bathroom and waited outside of it. She didn't say anything about it because she could see how worried and scared they were about her. At first, she couldn't bring herself to care. She was still numb, still unable to feel anything. She actually liked feeling numb because it was better than hurting inside. She was starting to not feel numb anymore, and that scared her. It meant that she could feel and that she could hurt again.

She felt like a fool. Her self-sacrifice, her master plan to protect her boys, had blown up in her face in a truly horrible fashion. She had destroyed something that had been wonderful. It hadn't been on purpose, it had been accidental, but the damage had been done. Puck and Finn felt different. They were holding themselves back from her. They sat on the couch with her, but they were very careful to never touch her. They remained incredibly polite, gentle, careful. They treated her like a friend, but not an overly close friend. Finn was afraid to breath near her. Puck handled her like delicate glass. She wasn't happy, but it was better than them not being there. Maybe they didn't feel the same way about her, but it would have to be enough.

When Kurt came, she was happy to see him. He looked her over with a critical eye. She _did_ look better. She actually smiled at him and it reached her eyes. She hugged him carefully, as though she weren't sure of what she was doing. She didn't seem _quite_ as fragile as she had before.

"Mercedes tells me that they sit with you everyday." Kurt thought that sounded pretty innocuous. She flinched and looked away from him.

"Yeah. They sit with me until my dads come home."

"Not on the weekends?"

"No," she whispered. Kurt frowned.

"So do they just sit on the couch, or do they treat you as they used to?"

"Couch," she mumbled, still not looking at him.

"Rachel, honey, you have to tell them if you want more. They want more—you have to believe me—but they won't make a move unless you say it's okay. Right now, they are so afraid to hurt you, or scare you, or give you some kind of awful flashback."

"Finn doesn't breathe near me."

"He doesn't what?"

"He doesn't breathe. He holds himself so still…it's awful." Kurt sighed. He could only imagine what Finn was going through. He knew enough to know that Finn was dealing with everything as best as he was able.

"You know what, sweetie? We can't do this anymore. It's killing you and it's killing them. This stops. Now." Kurt pulled out his phone and dialed Finn, who picked up immediately.

"Is she okay?" Finn's voice sounded slightly panicked.

"No. I need you both as soon as possible." There. That should do it. He smiled in satisfaction when Puck's truck was in front of the house in less than five minutes. The boys let themselves in, Rachel's dads preferred it because it was less stressful for Rachel.

"What's wrong?" Puck was pale and he was looking at Rachel trying to see if she'd been hurt somehow.

"Everything. She is miserable because she thinks you two don't love her the same way anymore. You are miserable because you are afraid to act normally around her, afraid to hurt her. You all need each other, and you're all doing everything to keep your distance from each other. Now. You two go and _cuddle_ her like you used to. When I get nauseous and I have to leave, you'll know you're doing it right. Rachel, let them be close to you. They want to, and they need to. If you start to feel uncomfortable—then tell them."

Finn and Puck stared at Kurt. They shifted from one foot to the other.

"Cuddle her? Like we used to?" Finn looked slightly scared. "But…what if we touch her, and she…" He couldn't finish the sentence because he refused to think about what that would mean. They looked at Rachel, who had started to look vaguely hopeful, but at Finn's words looked incredibly sad. That decided them. The boys took her quilt and spread it over them. They each sat on either side and each took a hand. Puck stroked her palm with his thumb. Finn's fingers interlaced with hers. Kurt popped in an action film like the kind they used to watch. Lately, they'd only put in Broadway shows that they thought Rachel would like.

"I have some errands I have to run for mom," Kurt told Finn, "but I'll check back on you all later."

Puck stroked her arm, and turned slightly toward her. He pressed a soft kiss to her brow. Finn dropped a kiss on the top of her head and squeezed her hand lightly. She squeezed back and laid her head on his shoulder. They watched the movie. Rachel felt a little bit better. They held her hands, and stroked her arms. She felt relaxed for the first time in months. She ended up laying across Finn's chest with Puck's head in her lap. She stroked his Mohawk absently as she watched the tv screen. She could feel Finn's chest rise and fall with regular, steady breaths. Puck pulled her hand down so he could kiss her finger tips and her palm before releasing her hand. Finn stroked her shoulders and kept placing feather-light kisses in her hair.

She felt loved. For the first time in a really long time she felt loved. She had missed her boys so much. She started crying. Immediately, the gentle hands on her stilled.

"Please don't. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cry. I just…I just missed you…missed this." She was sniffling and trying to stop crying, but failing miserably. Suddenly she was held in a tight embrace. Both of them were hugging her so tightly between them that she squeaked. They relaxed their grip only slightly…just enough that she could breathe. She realized that both of them were crying, too. They kept stroking her back, her shoulders, everywhere they could reach.

When Kurt came back to check on them, they were all wrapped around each other on the couch. He smiled to himself in satisfaction and then rolled his eyes.

"See? This is what I'm talking about! You guys are disgustingly cute right now. If I don't leave, I'll hurl and it might get on my new shoes." Finn laughed and Kurt stopped for second. He hadn't heard Finn laugh in…well…a long time.

"We wouldn't want that," Rachel agreed from the middle of the couch.

"Oh, by the way, tomorrow is Saturday so Finn will be by after sunset, right?" Rachel's eyes grew wide with surprise.

"Really?" Her voice was soft and breathy.

"Right. And then I'll be here on Sunday." Puck's voice was soft, but his tone was firm.

The smile on Rachel's face said everything.

Saturday night Rachel laid in Finn's arms and he just held her. She was sprawled across his chest and he was twirling a lock of her hair.

"So are you ours again? I mean are you our girl again?" Finn's voice was low and quiet. He was staring at the ceiling and his jaw was clenched. She sighed.

"I never stopped being yours. If you two still want me, you have me." Finn glared at her.

"That is stupid thing to say. _If_ we want you? Rachel…when you said we were done…that hurt so much. I've never stopped missing you, wanting you. I know Puck feels the same."

"I am _so_ sorry," she whispered. She stroked his face, his shoulders, his chest. He could feel his muscles unknotting and relaxing. It was weird that some things should be that simple. He pulled her closer to him and hugged her to his chest. She snuggled against him, trying to get closer. They fell asleep together and Rachel's dads didn't care this time. It was the best sleep their little girl had had in a long time.

Finn met with Puck before he went to Rachel's house. They had agreed that it was really important for them to know what was going on with her.

"Dude, isn't that what you wore yesterday?" Finn looked down at his wrinkled shirt and jeans and blushed.

"Yeah. I fell asleep at her house. Her dads didn't even yell. They seemed almost happy."

"So? How is she?" Finn frowned.

"She thinks we don't want her anymore. She thinks that she screwed up so badly that we shouldn't want her, which I told her was stupid."

"Oh, c'mon, Finn! You told her she was stupid? That's brilliant, that is. You must have made her feel loads better."

"No! I would never! I said that us not wanting her was stupid."

"So she's okay?" Puck looked worried. Finn understood. They were both trying so hard to make this work. It had to work. Going back to what they'd been doing didn't bear thinking about.

"I think so. We just cuddled and talked. She didn't ask for anything more." Puck knew what he meant. Finn never pushed. He just didn't. Now it was worse because their girl was afraid to ask for more. Finn would not make a move until she flashed her 'take me' smile or flat out told him to touch her or kiss her. Puck sighed heavily. This sucked. Not quite as bad as not having her at all, but still.

Puck decided to go to the gym before he went to Rachel's. He put himself through a brutal workout because it took his mind off of everything else. He showered at the gym and then headed to Rachel's house. He let himself in just like he did the other day. Rachel's dads smiled at him and waved him upstairs. He took the stairs two at a time. Rachel was coming out of the bathroom dressed in a tank top and sweats. She had just taken a shower and her skin was still damp.

"Oh! I didn't think you'd be here yet." She glanced at the clock.

"I couldn't wait any longer to see you," he murmured before he pulled her against his chest and hugged her tightly. He slid his arms around her waist and she relaxed against him. Her hands slid up his chest and wound around his neck. He tilted her chin up and kissed her gently on the lips. Her lips parted slightly and he took that as a subtle invitation. He licked her lower lip tentatively, afraid that somehow he'd misread her body language. She sighed softly and pressed against him. Well, okay then. Puck's lips moved against hers hungrily. He had missed her. Her arms tightened around his neck. He picked her up and laid her down in the bed. Her eyes were wide, watching his face. He sat down on the bed and took her hand in his.

"You know, Rach, I love you. I can't help it. I can't stop it. I just do."

"I know. Me too." Her eyes started to fill with tears.

"Please. Don't ever do that to us again. You almost killed Finn, you know." She gave a tiny sob and shook her head. "Hey. Hey. I'm not trying to be an asshole, here, Rachel. I just want you to know that we _do_ love you. We don't do well without you. We need you. _I_ need you."

He leaned down and kissed her again. She clung to him and kissed him passionately. His fingers tangled in her hair and he nibbled on her perfect, shell-like ears. He kissed down her neck and along her collarbone. When he got to her shoulder she grew still beneath him. He turned his head, she was staring at him intently. He cocked his head at her.

"What's wrong, baby girl?" He stroked her bottom lip with his thumb. She nipped at it and held it in her teeth for a couple seconds while she stared into his eyes. Oh. He very carefully nipped her shoulder and she gave a happy sigh.

They traded heated caresses and passionate kisses. Rachel was happy. He was happy. It was perfect. When Puck woke up, it was Monday morning.

"C'mon, Puck. We've got school. Finn is going to be here any minute!" Rachel was trying to pull on him and getting nowhere fast. She looked at his arms. Had he been working out? They seemed bigger.

"Baby, I'm getting up. Just give me a second." Then he rolled over. Seriously? She jumped on him and started beating him over the head with a pillow. He gave a growl and pounced her. He was trying to kiss her neck and she was giggling when Finn came in the room. The sound of her laughter was like music. She shrieked and then broke away from Puck and hid behind Finn.

"Save me, Finn!"

Soon there was a giant tickle fight in the middle of her bed. Her dads would have been less than thrilled if they'd been home because Rachel missed first period. They made it to school with a happy, flushed Rachel between them. Finn and Puck looked at each other and grinned. She looked so much better than she had. When they dropped her off for second period she kissed them both on the lips and then bounced into class. Finn and Puck stared at each other for a minute. That was different.

Puck wasn't waiting to walk her to glee. That was weird. He was never late. She shrugged and walked to the choir room. She was the first one there. It felt creepy, to be in there alone. Rachel quickly left the choir room and went to the girls' bathroom. She bumped into Tina and Mercedes, who immediately noticed that Rachel looked pale and nervous.

"Hey hot mama! Are you okay? You look pale…" Rachel shook her head and smiled weakly.

"I was the first one there. It was just…creepy." Mercedes frowned at that.

"Where's Puck?" Rachel shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Maybe he got detained somehow?"

"Hmph." Mercedes and Tina escorted her to glee to find a worried Finn pacing the room.

"Rachel! Where's Puck?" Finn was confused. Puck would never leave Rachel alone.

"I…I don't know. He wasn't there to pick me up. I came by myself, but I was the first one here, and…and…it was scary." She said the last in a whisper. She was still really pale looking. She had grabbed his hand and was pressed against his side. He stroked her back soothingly. Where the hell was Puck? How could he leave her alone like that?

Puck showed up several minutes late, completely shamefaced. He'd tried to run to the store figuring that he would have plenty of time to get back to Rachel. He ran into glee to find Rachel sitting in Finn's lap with her head on his shoulder. Finn shot him a look that clearly said _I would totally kick your ass right now, except she's sitting in my lap_. He nodded. He'd kick his ass too. He sat in his usual chair with the empty chair between them.

"You're late." Rachel looked at him reproachfully with those chocolate eyes.

"I am so sorry. I'll let you beat me up if you want." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Nope. I think I'll just sit here for the whole class." She snuggled deeper into Finn's arms and peeped at Puck over Finn's bicep. He stuck out his tongue at her and her eyes twinkled wickedly. He knew what that look used to mean. Puck blanched and turned to stare at the front of the class. In a minute his phone was vibrating, he pulled it out and checked the message.

_Was that a promise?_

He started blushing furiously and refused to look at her until the blush went away. He heard her giggling into Finn's jacket and glared at her.

"So _not_ funny, shorty." He shifted uncomfortably and crossed his arms across his chest. He tried to pay attention, but it was very difficult. Mr. Schue didn't make Rachel get out of Finn's lap because he had heard from Mercedes about her arriving first and panicking. She had looked really pale and upset at the beginning of rehearsal. She seemed happier than she'd been in a long time, and he was glad to see that. He hoped that everybody would be able to pull it together for Regionals.

"So you and Finn looked awfully cozy in glee today, is there a story there?" Mercedes fished for information later on the phone.

"No. I was just upset and it's really hard to be scared or nervous when you're sitting in Finn's lap." Mercedes giggled.

"Yeah, I'll just bet."

"He felt different…harder. His arms I mean!" Mercedes was laughing so hard it took her a minute to calm down.

"Well, I imagine that's from the fight club. Puck got Finn to join you know. They both work out a lot in the weight room at school."

"Wait…Kurt said something about that, but I just couldn't believe it. Wait…that's true? Mercedes, I have to go." _Busted_ Mercedes thought to herself. She assumed Rachel was going to call Kurt and she would hear all about it second hand. It never occurred to her that Rachel would call someone else.

"Hello?"

"Do you know where Puck's fight club is? And when it is?"

"How did you find out about that, hobbit?"

"Never mind. Do you?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do."

"Good."

Finn was starting to get self-conscious. Rachel kept staring at him, especially his arms. He'd worn a t-shirt today and it stretched across his chest. His biceps bulged whenever he bent his arms. When Puck joined them she frowned and started staring at his chest and arms too. What was up with her?

"Dude I was only gone one period, what did you do?" Puck whispered when Rachel wasn't paying attention.

"Nothing! She's been doing that all day. She's starting to make me nervous."

"Maybe our guns are turning her on?" Puck suggested hopefully.

"That is _not_ her turned on face. That is her _you two are so busted_ face." Damn it. Why did Finn have to be right. She looked seriously pissed off about something.

"Well I guess we should be grateful she's getting back to normal?" Puck was trying to be hopeful and positive. Rachel chose that moment to turn and look at them. Her eyes narrowed and glinted dangerously. Well, crap.

Puck and Finn grew more nervous as the day progressed. When Rachel spoke to them it was as though everything were fine, but she kept looking at them. During lunch she ended up stroking Puck's arm and Finn's. Puck had more experience in this sort of thing and he knew when a girl was trying to feel up his biceps. Why was Rachel feeling up his guns? And Finn's?

Santana bounced up to them during lunch. She had her evil smile on.

"Hey, hobbit. You ready?" Rachel nodded and stood up.

"Rach, where're you going?" She looked at both of them and her eyes narrowed again. They unconsciously leaned back slightly from her. Santana grinned to herself. The hobbit had those boys trained. Maybe she could teach Santana that look. It might come in handy.

"I'm going with Santana. She'll make sure I'm okay, right Santana?" Santana gave them both another dose of evil grin.

"Oh, you betcha. I wouldn't dream of letting Rachel get hurt." If she did, she would totally miss out on the epic fight that was going to happen tonight, and she was already running odds.

"I'll be back at the end of lunch." She absently kissed each of them on the cheek. The boys looked at each other. She kept doing that. Maybe she didn't realize she was doing it?

It was night. Rachel was dressed all in black. Her hair was in two braids. She was hiding with Santana and Brittany and waiting for Puck's fight club to start. She refused to think of it as Puck and Finn's fight club. She had known that Puck used to do stuff like this, but not Finn. There were a bunch of guys with no shirts and no shoes. Most of them were wearing jeans. Broad muscled chests shone under the fluorescent lights of the warehouse. The guys made a ring and two of the men stepped into the ring. One of them was Finn.

"Holy God," whispered Rachel. He was ripped. His large frame was lean, muscled. She watched the muscles in his back move as he stretched.

"I know, right?" Santana whispered back. Boy had it going on.

They started fighting and Rachel's heart stayed in her throat the whole time.

"Don't worry, Rach." Brittany whispered. "He's really, really good."

"You've watched before?"

"Are you kidding? This is better than anything on tv!" Santana looked at Rachel like she was crazy. Rachel watched. Finn _was_ really good. It was almost like dancing. They watched for a long time. They saw several fights. Rachel watched Puck fight. He and Finn had different styles of fighting, but they were both good. She had been prepared to be absolutely furious. Now she felt confused.

"Why do they do this? How did Puck even convince Finn to do this?" She was muttering to herself, but Santana answered her anyway.

"You didn't see how he was…it was…bad. He was dying inside Rachel. Puck was actually really worried about him. He didn't know what else to do, and it seemed to help." Santana's whisper cut Rachel to the quick. _You almost killed Finn_. She'd heard that more than once. She hadn't really thought about it because she _knew_ they were hurting. She was hurting. She didn't realize that Finn had done just as badly as she had—just in a slightly different way. _He says it's the only time he doesn't feel dead inside_. She'd heard, but she hadn't listened. _Oh my god, what have I done_? She started crying, but it was a quiet shaking of her body with silent sobbing. She couldn't believe how badly she'd screwed this up. Brittany tried patting her on the back, but Rachel got up and ran. Santana and Brittany stared at each other for a second, shrugged, and then turned back to the fights.


	8. Getting Better

Rachel called Kurt. He started babbling into the phone frantically.

"Rachel, honey, it's not what you think! Please calm down and let me explain!"

"Kurt?" Her voice was calm and she sounded slightly confused. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Well...um, never mind," Kurt mumbled.

"Kurt, I have a question and I need you to be utterly honest with me. Can you do that? I don't care if you think the answer will upset me, I need to know." Kurt swallowed. Oh shit.

"Yes. I promise."

"How bad was it?" Her voice was still calm. She didn't sound strained or stressed. He knew what she meant.

"It was a fucking mess. They were both so devastated. It was like watching all of you go supernova at once."

"But...Finn was worse?"

"Well, yeah. I mean Puck loves you, and he was just broken-please don't get me wrong-but, yeah, Finn was worse. I think it's because of something he and I talked about before you guys broke up. He was trying so hard Rachel. I'm not sure if you realized how your situation pushed at some of Finn's self esteem issues. He had to deal with a lot of things he'd never had to before. He had to struggle with the fact that you liked Puck, and deal with his fears that you might decide that you didn't need him. He said...he said it might be easier if he didn't have to try."

"He wanted to break up with us?" Her voice sounded sad.

"No! I know he didn't because I told him he needed to decide if it was worth it. He said he knew it was worth it. He didn't even hesitate. But, Rachel, I think that somehow he decided that this was his punishment. That it was his fault this was happening or something. He wasn't eating well, he wasn't sleeping well. He was falling apart. Puck kind of pulled himself together because he was really worried about Finn. He had lost you, he couldn't lose Finn, too. I think deep down somewhere Puck's got a heart. He loves Finn like a brother, or something. Anyway, fight club helped. It helped Finn so that he could function. He wasn't great. He wasn't even okay, but he could function."

"This is all my fault," she moaned into the phone.

"No! Please don't do that! You guys were starting to be okay again. You can NOT fall apart on me, Berry! Finn needs you! Hell, they both need you."

"Finn needs me," she whispered into the phone.

"That's right, honey. Finn needs you." She hung up. What the fuck? She _hung up_ on him? He tried calling her back, but there was no answer. What should he do? Should he call the boys? Crapcrapcrap. Sometimes, it was really inconvenient that he was at Dalton. He glanced at the clock. Oh thank god! He grabbed his phone.

"Kurt? What's up?" Finn was surprised. Normally, Kurt did not call him on Tuesday nights.

"Um, nothing. I just called to chat, you know? So how are you?" Finn groaned. He wasn't really into chatting on the phone. Actually, he pretty much hated it.

"I'm at home, just got here. I'm gonna throw some stuff in my room, take a shower, and then go to bed. I have school tomorrow."

"Okay. Um, if you decide you want to chat then I'll be up for a couple more hours. Call me tomorrow, Finn."

"Yeah, okay. I gotta go now though because...holy god!" This last part was choked out and then Finn had hung up on him too. What the hell? Did he have to go over there and kick _everyone's_ ass?

Rachel was sitting in Finn's bed. She had her arms wrapped around her knees. She was also completely naked. He shut his door behind him, locked it and then leaned against it.

"Rachel? My parents could come check on me at any minute!"

She stood up and walked over to him. His face was slightly bruised and he smelled sweaty and male. She reached up and put her little hands on his face-to make him look at her.

"I need you." Then she pulled his face to hers and gave him a soul-searing kiss. She took his hand and led him to the bed. She took his shirt off of him and her hands roamed freely all over his torso. He took her in his arms and cradled her against his chest. He kissed her, his tongue seeking hers.

"Rachel, why are you here? Now?" His forehead was pressed against hers.

"I need you. I'm just not right without you guys. I miss you so much, Finn." Her voice broke a little at the end.

"Me too, Rachel. Me too." He gave her one of those fierce, tight hugs. Then he gave her a fierce kiss that curled her toes. She wiggled free and started working on his belt, her little fingers tugging. He helped her undo the belt and she completely undressed him. She pressed a gentle kiss to his chest, and then pressed him down onto his bed. His eyes grew wide.

"Now, we're both going to have to be quiet," she whispered in his ear as she straddled him.

"Rachel?"

"Shhh, Finn. Please, baby, I _need_ this." She slid down his length and wriggled her bottom to settle herself. Finn made a strangled noise, but then he glanced in terror toward the door. He brought his hands up to hold onto her hips. Rachel began to ride him, slowly, teasingly. She smiled at him and rode him. He was going to die. It was going to be worth it, but he was going to die. She grabbed a pillow and moaned into it. That might have been the worst. Her muffled moans, groans, and screams. At some point he grabbed a pillow too. She began to quicken her pace, riding him while she rolled her hips. One hand held the pillow, and one hand gripped her hip. They came together, and she slumped on his chest for a minute. Then she was kissing him again.

She was cuddled against his side, kissing him and stroking his skin. He felt better, more alive, than he had in a long time. He felt whole again-like that piece of him that had been missing was back where it belonged. Her little hands roamed over his shoulders, down his chest, his back, arms, everywhere. He was surprised when he started to get hard again. She just smiled at him. She put him through his paces, repeatedly. At one point, he had her pinned to the wall and was pounding into her, with one hand over her mouth to muffle her cries of pleasure. He snuck her into the bathroom and took a shower with her. Possibly one of the nicest experiences of his life-her soaping him up and washing him off, and then kneeling in front of him in the shower. It wasn't just the blow job. It was the whole experience. He felt so loved, so adored as her tiny hands scrubbed him with his washcloth. It was now his favorite washcloth. Her soapy fingers had caressed every inch of him. They had  
kissed while the hot water pounded on both of them. It was incredible. He snuck her back into his room. She got dressed and came to stand between his legs. She was dressed all in black and had her hair tucked under a black beanie.

"It's 4 a.m., Finn. If I don't go now, your parents will find me. Judging by the way you snuck me in and out of the bathroom...you really aren't comfortable with that. I love you, Finn Hudson. I'll see you at school."

"I love you, too." She kissed him on the nose and moved over to his window. "You snuck in through the window?"

"Yeah. I'm a tiny ninja, remember?" She winked at him, and then she was out the window.

*********************************************************************

The next day Puck met him at school. He was tired as hell, but he felt good. He had knocked back an energy drink so he felt like he should be able to function.

"Dude, you look dead. What the hell happened?" Finn just grinned. It was a happy grin.

"I was attacked by ninjas."

"You were what?" Finn just kept grinning. Okay, he could play along. Finn hadn't been playful or silly in forever. "Was this after you left last night?"

"Yup."

"Where exactly were you attacked?"

"My bedroom." Puck could feel his jaw drop. There was only one ninja he knew of who would attack Finn in his bedroom.

"Dude! For real? Because that's all kinds of hot."

They went into the school, and Puck noticed that Finn was more relaxed, more himself. He was better. Their tiny ninja was incredibly smart. Trust her to know how best to fix Finn. He felt himself smiling. Rachel was at her locker getting her books.

"Hi!" She smiled at both of them. They walked her to class and she kissed them each on the cheek again. Puck frowned after her and then turned to Finn.

"You know, she keeps doing that." Finn nodded.

"You think she realizes she'd doing it?"

"Not sure."

Finn's phone started ringing.

"Yeah?"

"So why exactly did you hang up on me last night?" Finn started blushing and Puck cocked his head at him.

"I, uh, I had to go."

"Yeah, but why?"

"Um...Rachel was there." Finn's voice sounded strained.

"Oh, no! Was it really awful? I'm sorry, Finn!"

"What? No, it was incredible! Wait, what are you talking about?" Puck was snickering next to him. Even the half conversation he was listening to was funny.

"She knows. About fight club. Mercedes called me."

"She knows? She didn't say anything." Puck started wheezing and holding his sides. Finn punched Puck in the shoulder and shook his head.

"Well, what _did_ she say?"

"Uh...not much."

"What? Oh! Ewewewewewewew! I'm officially scarred for life! I will talk to you later!" Kurt hung up on him

Puck looked at Finn, who looked nervous.

"She knows. About...last night." Puck was surprised.

"And _that_ was her response? Well, did she see _me _fight?" Finn rolled his eyes.

"I think we need to talk to her."

"We probably should. This is weird, even for her."

Mercedes and Rachel were eating lunch in the cafeteria. One thing about being friends with a vegan-you end up eating a *lot* less burgers. She ate a lot more salad because there weren't a whole lot of vegan options at McKinley High. At least Rachel didn't freak out about her tots because that would be a deal breaker.

"Where are Puck and Finn?" Rachel shrugged.

"I think they're playing football outside. They know I'm with you."

"Huh. They're getting better about letting you wander about on your own." Rachel stuck her tongue out at Mercedes.

"I'm better. They're better. It's healthy and stuff, so zip it." Mercedes laughed. Rachel was happier. Her cheeks were filling in, her eyes were bright again. She was starting to act like herself again. Thank God! Even if Rachel Berry was a bit much-no one wanted the alternative.

"So what happened with the whole fight club thing? I thought for sure you were going to flip out all over them." Rachel sighed.

"They only joined to deal with the fact that I dumped them. It's kind of my fault almost. I can't be mad at them."

"I suppose not. Especially, when you look at it like that." Rachel gave her a wicked smile.

"Besides, have you ever _seen_ them fight?" Rachel's eyes were glowing.

"Um, no. It's a secret or something." Rachel leaned toward Mercedes.

"It is _so_ hot!" She whispered. "You have to come with me and watch."

Mercedes blinked.

"You watched?"

"Yeah. I hid on the roof, and watched. 'Cedes, they don't wear_ any_ shirts, and all of them are pretty buff."

"Really?"

************

Santana looked over Mercedes and Rachel, both dressed all in black so they blended into the shadows. She grinned at Rachel.

"See, I told you it was better than tv!"

Mercedes watched the group of milling guys, all of them without shirts on, all of them muscled and toned. Damn. That was a fine looking group of men. She was shocked when she spotted Finn. When did he get buff? He was _ripped_. Puck, she had already known was completely ripped. His broad chest was like a wall of muscle.

"Girl, I would chain that boy to a bed and never let him out." Mercedes whispered.

"Which one?" Rachel frowned.

"Never mind, honey."

When they started fighting Mercedes was totally entranced. It was primal, violent, and vicious. It was also kind of hot. She glanced at Rachel who was biting on her lower lip. Her chocolate eyes were large in her face. Puck stepped out to fight someone Mercedes didn't recognize. His powerful arms rained blows on his opponent. It was almost graceful, the way the fighters moved around each other in the circle.

Rachel watched with a smirk on her face. If her boys had seen it they would have recognized it. _Mine_. Puck and Finn won all their fights. Mercedes watched Santana grumble and hand over some cash to Rachel.

"Did you bet on them?" Rachel grinned.

"Of course! I certainly didn't bet on anyone else."

Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Hey! Let's all go out. I'm totally buying! You wanna come Santana?" Santana shrugged and then nodded.

The girls all changed and went to a 24 hour diner. They were all sitting in a booth giggling like crazy and sharing fries. A group of high school age guys came into the diner and chose the booth across from the girls. They started flirting outrageously with the girls who just kept laughing at them. It was ridiculous, it was silly and Rachel loved every minute of it. The boys weren't serious-they were just having fun. They were coming up with the most outrageous pick up line possible. The girls were rating the pick up lines. Rachel hadn't laughed this hard in a long time. Her chocolate eyes were sparkling, her cheeks were pink. She looked good. Mercedes grinned to herself. She was so glad to see Rachel doing better.

They were all laughing so hard that they didn't notice a second group of guys come in. Finn and Puck walked in with a couple of the fight club guys. Their 'rach'dar zeroed in on her almost instantly. They immediately headed back to their girl who was sitting with her back to them, facing Santana. One of the guys got down on one knee in front of Rachel and put his hand to his chest.

"Do you have a map? 'Cuz I keep getting lost in your eyes!" The girls burst out into uncontrollable giggles again. Santana looked up when she could breathe again and saw Puck and Finn frowning at the table of boys. The boys were watching them curiously. Puck and Finn were big, obviously buff, and acting like boys who had some sort of claim on the girls at the table. Damn. The girls were all cute and fun to hang out with. Of course they were spoken for. Santana cleared her throat.

"Rach?" She gave a nod of her head. Rachel turned around in her seat and gave a girly squeal. She launched herself at the boys. She landed kind of in the middle and they each had an arm around her. She stood on tiptoe to give each boy a quick kiss.

"Hi." She sparkled at them.

"What are you doing, Rachel?" Puck hoped he sounded calm. He hoped he didn't sound jealous. She picked up on that way too easily.

"Well after the...uh...we decided to come hang out here and have fries. You want to join us?" Finn frowned.

"Well, we came in with some friends. Let me go talk to them." Finn left her to go talk to their fight club buddies. Rachel cuddled up to Puck's side, and he wrapped his arm around her a little tighter. He kissed her forehead. Puck eyed the boys at the table. They looked high-school age, but he didn't recognize them.

"Puck?" He looked down at her.

"They were just being nice." There was a warning note in her tone. He grinned down at her.

"You afraid I'm gonna hurt 'em, shorty?" Her eyes narrowed and glinted dangerously. She turned to look at Finn who was walking back. His white t-shirt stretched tight across his chest. They both smelled like soap and sweat.

"You just might."

"Not tonight, shorty. I have other plans." He gave her a wicked grin. She rolled her eyes at him and elbowed him in the ribs.

"_You_ always have other plans."

"Wanna hear my plans for tonight?" He murmured in her ear. She blushed, giggled and smacked him on the arm.

"Watch it, Puckerman. She might take you down." Finn observed with a grin. He slid in the booth and patted the bench next to him. She slid in next to him and then smiled at Puck over her shoulder.

Mercedes watched everything with wide eyes. The boys were acting playful and flirty with Rachel, which she'd never actually seen before. Rachel was glowing. The boys at the other table were watching everything too. Finn and Puck were both completely focused on Rachel. She glanced at Santana who had a satisfied smile on her face. The boys at the other table decided it might be okay to flirt with Santana and Mercedes, which they did with absolutely horrible pick up lines. The girls started giggling again. Puck and Finn just sat back and watched their girl with a smile. Compared to them, the boys at the table really did seem like boys. Then again, she'd just seen them with their shirts off fighting in a warehouse. It made her appreciate the sheer masculinity of the two sitting across from her.

Finn leaned down and murmured something in Rachel's ear. She smiled up at him, and then turned to Mercedes and Santana.

"It's getting late, and they say I need sleep." Santana snorted.

"Right. Cuz Puckerman plans on letting you sleep." Rachel's cheeks turned pink.

"Good night, Mercedes…Santana." Puck slid out and stood up. He held out a hand to Rachel and helped her out. Rachel waved to the girls and then left with Finn and Puck following her.

The boys took her home and parked the truck.

"Rachel, can we ask you a question?" Puck had his arms crossed over the steering wheel. He looked at her.

"What is it?"

"You were always so careful, so cautious before. You were friendly, but never flirty with us in public—at school. We're not quite sure what to make of all this. We like it, but it's so different." Puck was trying to keep his voice very calm, very soothing. He wanted to make sure that Rachel understood. He and Finn had talked, and they both agreed. Rachel listened carefully and nodded.

"I know. I think it just doesn't matter to me anymore. _Nothing_ will ever compare to not having you. If…if I'd been a little more flirty at school, or even shown what I felt a little more, maybe p-p-people would have known they didn't have a chance and…" she didn't finish the thought. Finn and Puck shared a look. By people she meant Jacob ben Israel. Puck and Finn weren't quite willing to be that generous.

"Baby, are you sure you want to do this? You don't have to." Finn stroked her arm soothingly.

"Whether or not you planted one on me in the hall would _not_ make him okay in the head. You gotta know that baby girl." Puck was stroking her other arm.

"I get it. I do. But I also understand that nothing anyone in that school could do to me would make as miserable as one minute without you two."

They hugged her and kissed her. She got out of the truck. She looked at them with her big chocolate brown eyes and bit her lower lip. _That right there, that should be illegal_, Puck thought. She turned and went into the house.


	9. Relationships

_A/N: I appreciate the feedback! You know, it does appear that Finn gets more of Rachel, but that wasn't my intention. I wanted to show that he was vulnerable in this relationship-that he had a harder time dealing with insecurities, and that he took the break up harder than Puck had. As a result, Rachel ends up spending more time reassuring him. However, I meant to show that Puck was secure in his feelings, and Rachel's love for him. He certainly deserves just as much attention. That's one of the tricky things about a triad (or any other relationship w/ multiple partners). How do you keep it fair? Rachel tries to do that. Maybe she fails occassionally, but I would like to think it wasn't because she loves Puck or Finn any less than the other._

*glee*

Puck dropped Finn off and headed home. He almost tripped over a chair when he flipped on his bedroom light and found Rachel wearing a smile and nothing else.

"Didn't we send you to bed?" Her grin got really naughty.

"But I'm not tired, Noah." His mouth felt dry. He'd been a teensy bit jealous that Rachel had attacked Finn in his bedroom. He'd really tried not to be. Finn had been so messed up, and he'd really needed the affirmation of Rachel's feelings. He knew that. That's why he told the annoying voice in his head to go suck it.

"So you came to see me?" She pouted and bit her lip. Was she trying to kill him or something?

"I can leave if you don't want me here."

"No! I mean, don't leave, I just...um." Talking seemed like a waste of time, and his mouth was apparently not connected to his brain anymore. He grabbed her and kissed her roughly. Was she purring? What the hell?  
He wrapped his arms around her. She gripped his forearms and kissed him back. Then she pushed him down onto the bed and attacked him. She was kissing, licking, and biting all over his torso. Halfway through the night, Puck decided maybe she _was_ trying to kill him. Where had she even come up with half of this stuff?

"I found a copy of the illustrated Kama Sutra," she breathed into his ear at one point. "Noah, I want to try them all with you." He groaned into her neck and bit her. Her nails raked lightly down his back. God help him, she was insatiable. Her eyes were so expressive. They burned into him while he covered her mouth with his hand. Puck was usually fairly aggressive sexually, but tonight Rachel was matching him every step of the way. It was a huge turn on.

Puck dragged her off to the bathroom for a shower. Once she was clean, she smelled vaguely of his soap, which he found kind of sexy. It was like she smelled of him. He dragged her back to the bedroom and laid her down on the bed. He proceeded worship her body with his lips, tongue, teeth, and fingers. She used his pillow to muffle her screaming. God she was amazing.

He surrendered at some point aroung 5 or 6 a.m. He honestly didn't know what time it was. He honestly didn't care. He couldn't move.

"Baby girl...I don't think I can move. My legs feel numb." She giggled and bit him on the neck.

"C'mon, Noah. You have to go to school in a couple hours." He threw an arm over his eyes and groaned.

"I find it disturbing that you are so damn cheerful. Aren't you sore or something?" She shrugged.

"I'll probably walk funny, but it was worth it." He gaped at her. Rachel usually didn't talk like that. She seemed relaxed and comfortable. "Noah, I missed you so much. You don't even know..." her voice trailed off.

"Yeah, I do, shorty. I missed you like crazy. All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry, but Finn was falling apart. I had to be the strong one, you know? I felt like I couldn't lose it. For his sake." She nodded.

"Thank you, Noah. I think you saved us all. You were our rock." She snuggled up to him and kissed him sweetly on the lips. His arms wrapped around her and he kissed her on the forehead.

*glee*

Finn smirked at Puck, who had sunglasses on.

"Puck, you look dead."

"Dude, I _am_ dead." Finn started laughing. "Shut up, Hudson." Finn laughed harder.

Rachel looked radiant. She bounced from class to class with energy. _How was that fair_, Puck thought to himself as he trailed after her. _All I want to do is sleep_.

During lunch, Rachel was relaxed and happy. She spoke energetically with her friends, which somehow included Santana now. Puck wasn't sure how the hell that had happened, but Santana'd better watch her damn step. If she did _anything_ to upset their girl he'd probably punch her—even if she was a girl. He'd feel bad about it later. Finn might be able to hold him back. Maybe he'd talk about with him later. They spent a lot of time talking about contingencies. Mostly what they should do in various situations where Rachel was hurt or upset. They hadn't made a chart or anything, but they had worked out some stuff between them.

Puck's biggest problem was his passion. If he felt something it either showed in his face or he acted on it. Sometimes, he envied Finn his ability to internalize so much because he kept a lot under the surface. Rachel would always shake her head at him.

"I like you just the way you are, Noah. Please don't change." Her beautiful eyes would look deep into his and he would promise her anything.

"Noah?" Rachel waved her hand in his face. "Where were you?"

"Thinking?" He offered weakly. She gave a small smile. Finn grinned at him and shook his head. He took a healthy bit of pizza.

"Who's Noah?" Mercedes and the other girls looked confused. Finn finished chewing and swallowed.

"It's Puckerman's first name."

"Oh." Mercedes looked from Rachel to Puck to Finn with a slight frown on her face.

"What you were thinking about?" Rachel tilted her head slightly.

"What to do if Santana hurts you. I mean, she's a girl so I can't punch her, right?" Santana gave him a disgusted look. Finn shrugged and nodded. It was true, Santana was a girl—and that did complicate things for them. He'd actually been wondering the same thing. Rachel laughed at both of them.

"You worry too much. I am going to be fine."

*glee*

Mercedes and Rachel were doing homework together at Mercedes' house. Rachel was tapping the pen against her lips and thinking.

"Rachel?"

"Hmmm?" 

"Can I ask you a question?" Rachel looked up from her homework. Mercedes looked really confused and very serious.

"Yeah, 'Cedes. What is it?"

"Do you consider me a friend? I mean, I know we've had our differences, but I think we've grown past them. I've had your back through some major shit. I just wanted you to know that I consider you one of my closest friends." Rachel blinked at her and her mouth fell open.

"Yes, Mercedes, I consider you one of my best friends. You were there for me…when…when I was alone. You took care of me. I'll never forget that."

"_Why_ were you alone, Rachel? It was so weird…all of a sudden Puck and Finn just abandon you? That's crazy. Especially Puck. If he considers you a friend he'll go through hell for you. And it was pretty obvious they still considered you a friend. I never understood that, and you weren't really in a place where I felt I could push for answers. Then…the other stuff happened…and they were back and they weren't leaving again no matter what. My god, Rachel. Those boys were acting like their whole world was slipping through their fingers."

"It's complicated…" Rachel shrugged and spread her hands in front of her.

"I'm sure it is. I just want you to know that I'm your friend no matter what. Whatever made you try to make them leave…I hope I'm not part of that."

"What makes you think I was responsible for that?" Rachel's voice was quiet and she refused to look at Mercedes. Mercedes rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Those boys have to be pried off you with a crowbar. Yeah, it's worse now because they're worried and insecure, but they were like that before. You had perpetual shadows. You moved through the school like a movie star with the big scary bodyguards behind her. I don't think you really realized it because you were worried about other stuff. I mean, Rachel, seriously—when was the last time you were slushied?"

Rachel frowned. She tried to think back, when had she been slushied? It hadn't been in a really, really long time.

"Uh…last year, I think. By some hockey players."

"Right. Have you seen them lately?"

"No. I guess not, but Mercedes I'm not a huge hockey fan, you know. I prefer to spend my time doing something more constructive."

"Uh-huh. Like watch your boys fight?" Rachel blushed furiously. "My point, Rachel, is that Puck and Finn beat the ever loving shit out of the hockey players who slushied you. They tag-teamed them for god's sake. No one has slushied you since."

Mercedes watched the play of emotions across Rachel's face: shock, consternation, wonder, love…and pride?

"They are very protective," she murmured with a shake of her head.

"They are indeed. They really love you." Mercedes said it quietly, watching Rachel to discern her reaction. She looked at Mercedes. She gave a wry half smile.

"Yeah, they kinda do."

"So why did they leave you alone?" Mercedes wasn't sure if Rachel would be willing to talk about this a whole lot. Previously, she would just shut down. It was like the lights were on, but no one was home.

"I made them," she whispered.

"Why the hell would you make such fine-looking boys leave you alone?"

"I was afraid…of the fallout at school. Jacob…Jacob threatened a blog entry saying that Puck and Finn were gay…and that they were using me as a cover. Kurt…went through so much. I-I couldn't let them do that to Puck and Finn."

"Well we know how much bullshit that was."

"Yes."

"So you just told them to leave you alone?"

"Yes. They argued, but I did it anyway."

"But now they're back."

"Yes they are. They've both told me that I'm stuck with them. They're never leaving."

"How does that work exactly?" Rachel cocked her head at Mercedes.

"They rotate, and they each get one day a week." Mercedes started laughing.

"Trust you, Berry, to make them a chart!" Rachel's cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Well, I try to be fair. I mean, I love them both the same. I don't want to hurt them."

"That sounds perfectly logical." Mercedes said with a grin and a shake of her head.

*glee*

"So, hobbit, there's a party going down this weekend. You in?" Rachel bit her lip.

"What kind of party?"

"Um…sort of a rager. It'll probably be a lot different than Sam's party." Santana looked hopeful.

"Why do you want me to come?" Santana shrugged and attempted to look nonchalant.

"You don't have to. Never mind."

"Wait! I want to, I just want to know why. You tolerate me. I get that and I'm actually grateful that we're up to tolerating each other." Santana sighed and sat down across from Rachel.

"You completely get my situation and you don't judge me for it. You know how many of those I have? One. I'm trying here, okay?" Rachel nodded. She actually understood a lot of Santana's fears and concerns because she shared many of them. She would watch Santana's back. Especially if the fiery Latina ever decided to come out to the school.

"What night, and what time?"

"Friday night, 11 p.m." Rachel's eyes got big. That was Shabbat. She kept that day out of her schedule with the boys. She'd have to sneak out of the house…her dads would never let her go out on Shabbat. She felt wicked even contemplating it, but Santana was trying to be her friend. She really wanted this—to have friendships with some of the girls.

"Um. I can do that, Santana…but you can't tell them." Santana's eyebrows flew up her forehead. The midget didn't make a move without her boys knowing about it. She frowned.

"Listen, I don't want to come between you and them, midget."

"No…you won't be coming between us. I just usually won't do anything with them on Fridays. It's like…a free day." Santana thought about that for a moment.

"Okay then. I'll pick you up?"

"Uh, no. I'll meet you in the Breadstix parking lot?"

"Sounds good."

*glee*

Puck frowned to himself. His "rach"dar was in full effect since their very weird Friday afternoon. She'd been weird all day. She'd been happy to see both of them. He'd gotten there first and had spent several happy minutes with Rachel sitting on the kitchen counter, and him standing between her knees. His fingers had tangled in her hair and he'd kissed his way down her throat. She had moaned and nibbled on his earlobe. He'd grabbed her ass and pulled her against the hard bulge in his jeans. She'd whimpered against his throat.

"Noah…", she moaned and wriggled against him. That decided him. Thank god she always wore skirts. Her damp panties were on the kitchen floor before she had time to realize what he was doing. She gasped as her bare cheeks touched the granite counter top. Then Puck slid into her and she really didn't care about anything else. She wrapped her legs around his waist and dug her nails into his shoulders. In the past, he'd prided himself on skill and technique, but with Rachel all of that went out the window. Being inside Rachel was like nothing else. It was Heaven. It was home. It was perfect.

"I love you." He looked into her eyes as he said it. She smiled back at him.

"I love you, Noah."

Her parents weren't home and they were alone—so he didn't bother putting his hand over her mouth or finding some way to gag her. He loved hearing her screams, it never failed to turn him on even more. When she came she screamed so loudly in his ear that it rang a little for an hour so after. He didn't mind. He thought it was kind of sexy. Rachel kissed him and then hopped off the counter. She scooped up her panties and then ran upstairs.

Finn finally showed. Puck was stretched out on the couch. He frowned at Finn.

"Dude where the hell have you been?" Finn gave him a harassed look.

"History. Make-up test." Puck shrugged. Fine by him. If Puck got hot sex on the kitchen counter, Finn could be late every Friday.

Rachel came hurrying downstairs. She gave Finn a quick kiss on the cheek and then raised an eyebrow at him.

"Where have you been?"

"History. Make-up test," Finn growled. Rachel's eyes widened. Finn never got short with her. Ever. She looked at Puck who was grinning.

"I just asked him the same thing. I think he feels persecuted."

"Oh, baby." Rachel stood on her tiptoes and gave him a lingering kiss. Puck tilted his head to the side. When she did that in those short skirts he could kind of see up it. He grinned to himself, and then he frowned. Wait a minute, did that mean guys at school could see up her skirt? Well, damn it. Now he'd have to check.

They were settled on the couch, watching the movie when Rachel's phone started singing "Living La Vida Loca". She jumped up and answered the phone. That was weird. A lot of the time, Rachel would turn the phone off on Friday afternoon. She was pretty serious about giving them their special time.

"Hello?"

"Hey, hobbit, I just had a horrible thought. You can NOT dress yourself to this rager. I'm going to have to dress you, so you have to come to my house. Can you meet me at 9:30 p.m.?"

"Um," Rachel glanced at her boys and then moved towards the kitchen. Puck and Finn looked at each other. Rachel never did that. Ever. She would sit there and talk to Kurt or Mercedes for forever and not care if they were bored out of their skulls.

"Well? I have to have time to make you decent." Rachel made it into the kitchen and went to the far corner.

"Um, I think so. Can we do 10 instead?" She was worried about being able to sneak out.

"I guess, but that might be cutting it short."

"I'm not that bad!" Santana laughed.

"I suppose not. Okay. 10 o'clock. Do you remember where I live?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then. See ya."

"Rachel?" Rachel's head shot up to see Finn and Puck standing in the doorway watching her.

"Yeah?"

"Who was that?" She panicked.

"Um, Mercedes?" They frowned at her and then shrugged.

"Okay, baby girl. Let's finish the movie." Rachel hurried out of the kitchen biting her lower lip. Puck frowned.

_A/N: So now this was almost Puckcentric…which isn't exactly what I meant to do. _


	10. Party Girl

Rachel stood nervously in the middle of Santana's bedroom in her bra and panties. Santana was slowly walking around her, muttering under her breath in Spanish. Unfortunately, Rachel had taken French so she wasn't sure what Santana was saying. She went into her closet and started pulling things out. She made a couple separate piles and then held various things up against Rachel. Finally she sighed.

"You don't have my tits. We need to find something that won't hang off you. Wait!" She dove into the closet again and came out a second later with a shout of triumph. It was some kind of piece of black fabric. When she was done, Rachel had on skintight black leather pants with stiletto heel black boots. Her "top" was basically strategically arranged strips of black fabric. Santana did her make-up and hair. She stared at herself in the mirror. She looked bad ass and hot. Wow. Santana grinned at her.

The party really was a rager. It was in an abandoned warehouse. The DJ was quite good Rachel thought to herself. It was mostly techno-electronica with some hip-hop/dance thrown in, but Rachel actually loved to dance to that kind of music. The only option for drinks was what one boy called "jungle juice." Rachel was a little nervous. She'd never gotten drunk before. She didn't really go to a lot of parties. Puck and Finn wouldn't take her to the questionable ones because they were afraid of beating the crap out of some drunk idiot who upset Rachel. This was unlike anything she'd ever seen. Santana grabbed them each a cup of jungle juice. She knocked hers back like it was kool-aid.

"C'mon let's dance!" Rachel looked around her, shrugged and knocked back hers as well. Bad idea. It burned down her throat and she ended up having a coughing fit. Santana pounded on her back.

"You okay?" Rach gave a thumbs up sign and then Santana was dragging her out on the floor.

*glee*

Around midnight, Kurt decided to call Rachel. This was a fairly common occurrence on Friday nights. She was usually in bed that late, but she and Kurt would talk for an hour or so. Kurt happened to be calling Rachel from the living room because Finn had mentioned he was worried about her. Finn was watching a movie, but Kurt knew he'd shamelessly eavesdrop.

The phone rang for longer than usual. When Rachel picked up he could hear what sounded like a party.

"Hello?"

"Rachel?"

"Um, I think so. I was when I got here. Hey, am I still me? Okay. Yup. I'm still me."

"Are you drunk?" Finn stared at Kurt like he was crazy. Kurt put the phone on speaker. Party music blasted. And then came Rachel's voice, which sounded very drunk.

"I don't think so, Kurtie-poo. I have been very, very careful. You don't think I'm drunk do you?" Then they heard a guy's voice.

"No honey, you're not drunk yet. Have another."

"Rachel! Where are you?" Kurt was horrified. Rachel was always so careful. What on earth was she thinking? She could totally be roofied or something! Finn's face was turning purple.

"Um…at home?"

"With some strange guy hitting on you? What the hell would Puck or Finn say?"

"Okay…maybe not at home. Puck and Finn would definitely not like that." Kurt sighed and closed his eyes. He counted to ten.

"Rachel? Where are you?"

"Not sure, akshully." She giggled. "A warehouse? Near where my boys fight. They are soooo schmexy. I wish they were here right now." Kurt looked at Finn who looked faintly apoplectic.

"Okay, Rachel, honey. Please be careful. I'm going to send your boys to you, would you like that?" She squealed into the phone.

"Oh yes, Kurtie-poo. I miss my boys. Maybe they would dance with me? And also, some these boys don't take no for an answer. I've had to get quite fierce with a couple of them." Finn was trying to breath deeply, in and out. He kept clenching his fists.

Kurt called Puck himself.

"You're go for Puck."

"Finn's house. Now. Emergency."

"I'm there. Gimme 5 minutes." That was the cool thing about Puck. If you were his friend, he didn't give a rip what was going down—he was there, and he had your back. He was true to his word. He showed up within 5 minutes. He looked at Finn who was sort of shaking with rage and then looked at Kurt.

"Rachel's at a party. She's drunk off her ass, strange guys are hitting on her, and apparently they don't take no as an answer." Kurt decided that short and to the point was probably best. Puck looked shocked.

"What, by herself? That's just stupid. Rachel would never do that." Rachel was smart, he knew that. Smart girls did not go to parties by themselves, it was too dangerous. They needed back up, just in case. He didn't care if it was a bunch of girls, as long as there was someone to watch her back.

"I heard her. She is at a party and she's drunk off her ass." Puck looked at Finn who was furious. He nodded once. He'd heard her, too.

"That makes no sense! Rach, just wouldn't do that."

"I don't know what she's doing. I just know what I _heard_." Finn's voice was a low growl.

"Dude, I'm not disputing what you heard. I'm just saying let's go see what's going on. There's gotta be more to it." Puck was confused and Finn was pissed the fuck off as they left his house.

Puck drove around the warehouse area where they had their fights until they found the one with the party. It wasn't that hard. The blaring music was a big clue.

Puck and Finn looked like the very last two guys you would ever want to fuck with. They were both big, muscled, and they glowered at everyone. It was a huge party. There were probably a couple hundred people here. Great. Just great. Puck was irritated as hell. Finn looked like he might start punching random people. He started skirting the outer edge, Finn following him. They were both constantly scanning, looking for her. Puck spotted Santana dancing with a girl up by the DJ. The girls were grinding against each other to the music. It was the hottest fucking thing he'd ever seen. They were surrounded by guys, but the girls ignored them.

"Look, it's Santana," Puck hollered at Finn. "Maybe she's here with Rachel?" Finn gave a short nod. That would make them both feel better. At least somebody was watching her back. Puck wove closer, Finn still following him. Santana saw them and grinned. They could only see the back of the girl dancing with Santana. She had black leather pants that looked like they'd been painted on. Scraps of black fabric were strategically arranged to cover her breasts. Santana waved at them and then poked the girl she was dancing with. The girl turned and when she saw them her face lit up. _It was Rachel_. The totally smoking hot girl dancing with Santana was Rachel. She flung herself at them. She turned her face up and grinned at them both.

"You founded me! I am soooo happy to see you both. I misseded you." Finn looked at Puck. How could he be pissed off when she was so fucking cute? Puck shrugged. How the hell should he know? He wanted to take her in a dark corner and peel those leather pants off her. She was purring at both of them. Santana came up behind her.

"Oh! I have to go dance with my girl! If I don't, creepy boys hit on her, which is just yucky."

Rachel went off to grind on Santana some more. Seriously? This might just kill me, Puck thought to himself. He glared at the guys who tried to dance on Rachel and Santana. He moved up behind her. When she glanced over her shoulder and saw that it was him she moved so that she was dancing with him and Santana. Finn looked slightly less pissed off. That was good. Then Puck just gave himself up to the feeling of Rachel's ass grinding against him. He closed his eyes and just let her go. She was having fun, and now that Finn was here and could see that she was safe—he was better. Puck figured that meant they could play, right? He made Finn go out and dance with Rachel. Finn threw him a panicked glance, and Puck nodded at him. Finn knew what that meant. Everything was fine, he should just enjoy it. He didn't have to do much, Rachel basically shimmied up and down him. The boys kept a sharp eye on their girl. They danced with her, and they let her dance with Santana. No one else dared to go near her. A couple of really stupid, drunk guys did and they got a fierce glare and both boys flexing their pecs and arms. The drunk guys moved off. Around 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. the boys encouraged Rachel to go home. They dragged her off the dance floor. Santana followed, for which they were grateful because they did not want to leave her alone, either.

"Noah?" Her voice was breathy. So not fair.

"Yeah, baby girl?"

"Are we taking S-Lo, home?"

"Yeah."

"Oh good. She's my friend, you know." Rachel said this brightly. Santana grinned at her.

"Course I am, Rachel. You get me, you know? That' s why you are so, so awesome."

"No, S-Lo. You are really awesome." Puck rolled his eyes at Finn, who shrugged. The girls told each other how awesome they were until they got to Santana's house. Rachel planted one on Santana. Puck wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"Love you, girl. See you on Monday." Santana staggered up to her door.

"Love you!" Rachel sang out the window. Puck frowned at Finn, who pulled Rachel back in and sat her down.

"Rach, honey, how'd you get out on Shabbat?" That was the thing that Puck kept coming back to…that Rachel had gone out on Shabbat.

"I snucked out, but shhhh. You can not tell my dads. They will be so mad at me."

"What about Puck and Finn? Are they gonna be mad at you?" Finn raised a brown at Puck._ They_ were Puck and Finn. What the hell was he doing?

"Oh, gosh, I hope not. I want to have friends that are girls. They can't be mad about that, right?" Rachel looked worried.

"Well, Finn and Puck might care about boys rubbing up on you…"

"Ew! That's just gross. I like dancing with Santana, though."

"That's fine, shorty. I don't think Puck or Finn mind that." Puck encouraged her.

"Oh good! I love them you know."

"Yeah, shorty. We know." Puck muttered at her.

"They are my boys," she murmured up at Finn. "I love them soooo much. I don't think they know how much. I fall apart without them. I'm just not whole." Finn looked down into those eyes.

"I think they know that, Rach. They love you, too." Finn's voice was husky.

"I know they do." She smiled up at Finn.

"What are we supposed to do with her?" Finn asked in desperation.

"Sneak her back in. It's late enough, that I hope to god her dads are sleeping. If not, they like us well enough to not kill us."

A drunk Rachel was fairly docile, so they managed to sneak her into her room. She was also a little horny and pouted when they tried to leave. Finn and Puck couldn't really leave her when she was like that. They stayed with her, but they mostly just kissed her and mollified her until she passed out, which didn't take a long time.

Rachel woke up late on Saturday morning. She was by herself, which didn't seem quite right. She specifically remembered Finn and Puck being with her. She got up, staggered to the bathroom and took a shower. She went to temple with her dads. She came home and just sort of hung out. When Finn showed up at sundown he didn't look particularly happy. They ended up hanging out in Rachel's room. He just sort of laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Finn? What's wrong?" He frowned at her.

"Why would you go out like that on a Friday night, without a little more backup, Rach? Those kinds of parties can be dangerous." She blinked at him.

"I had Santana…you were okay with her at Sam's party…" Rachel looked genuinely confused.

"That was a much smaller party, Rach, and all the people there were people we know—people we all go to school with. There were a bunch of glee people there. Sam would've had your back if we hadn't been there. That other party…it was huge and we didn't see anyone we knew. Santana can usually hold her own, but I really don't like those kinds of odds. Sometimes stuff happens at parties like that. You know…to girls." Rachel frowned. He was right.

"I suppose more back up would have been better." Rachel looked at her hands and then looked back at Finn. "I guess I could have been hurt. So…if I promise to take more back up next time, you won't have an apoplectic fit in your living room?" Finn gave an irritated sort of growl.

"What, did Kurt call you?"

"To yell at me for scaring everyone? Yes. I got a two hour lecture at 7 a.m. I'm sure it would have gone on longer, but I had to go to temple." Rachel sighed.

"You know, I love him and all, but sometimes he can be a little overbearing." Finn had thrown an arm over his face.

"Hey! Kurt is my boy! He's been there for me, Finn. Through everything. If he wants to yell at me for scaring him and Noah and you…maybe I deserved it." He understood what she meant. Kurt was the only one who knew everything, and he had been Rachel's only confidant for a lot of things.

"Fine. I guess I just have to live with my every move being reported to you." Rachel started laughing so hard she ended falling off the bed. Finn gave her a harassed frown.

"Why is that so funny?"

"Kurt's been telling me absolutely everything ever since he moved in with you." Finn growled again. Rachel sat up on the floor and really looked at him. He was upset, but she wasn't sure why. His jaw was clenched. He had growled at her several times. She had thought it was kind of cute at first, and hadn't realized that it meant he was upset. She put her hand on his chest. He laid back on the bed and closed his eyes. He was fighting the natural reaction of his body to relax when she touched him. Rachel's eyes grew wide in surprise.

"Finn…what is wrong with you?" Rachel's voice was quiet, but her frustration bled through in her tone. Finn put an arm over his eyes again.

"Why did you kiss Santana?" His voice was low. Rachel was very confused now.

"What are you talking about?" Finn moved his arm to peek at Rachel. She had her hand on her hips and was looking at him as though he was insane.

"Santana. You kissed her. Last night. In front of Puck and me. And you told her you loved her."

"I did no such thing!" Rachel said indignantly.

"Yeah, Rach. You did." Rachel was filled with consternation. She had kissed Santana? When did she do that? She frowned trying to remember the end of last night. Wait…when they dropped Santana off at home…had she kissed her then? Wait…she kind of remembered something. Oh. Oh! She started blushing. She looked at Finn who was watching her carefully. He was starting to look really upset.

"I guess I did." Finn closed his eyes and took a couple breaths.

"So, did you mean it?" His voice sounded strained.

"Baby, there's something you need to understand. Santana, she's in love with Brittany. I'm the only person at McKinley who knows, really. Well, except for Santana and Brittany, of course. She…she doesn't want anybody to know about it. We are kind of in similar positions. I really feel for her, you know? I was drunk and I just wanted her to know that I'm there for her. If I had been sober, I'm sure I would have found a much better way to express myself. However, if alcohol had not been involved Santana probably would have blown me off. I do not _love_ her, the way I love you and the way I love Puck. I love her like I love Kurt." Finn snorted.

"You don't go around kissing Kurt," he grumbled. He felt a little better, but he still was not happy.

"Actually, I do kiss Kurt," she argued, "admittedly they're mostly air kisses. I have kissed him on the cheek once or twice. I think he's kissed me on the forehead. Usually when you've done something spectacularly stupid."

"Wait just a minute! You kiss my brother?" Finn sounded surprised.

"Well, of course I do. I love him. Kisses are commonly accepted as ways to express affection. For heaven's sake, Finn are you going to have a fit when I kiss my dads on their cheeks, too?" Finn did not like where this was headed. He was moving from moral high ground to getting in trouble. He hated how quickly that seemed to happen. A guy just couldn't win. Even when he was right, he was wrong.

"Well, no."

"I promise to try to restrain myself in the future. Next time, I won't use tongue."

"What? You used tongue!" Finn was incensed again. Rachel was giggling at him, which actually just irritated him.

"No. I didn't." Rachel looked at him seriously. "Baby. Finn, I love _you_. And I love Puck. You two are it. God knows I have a hard enough time balancing the two of you. How am I supposed to handle any more than that?" Finn grunted in annoyance, but he let Rachel snuggle against him, and he began to relax under her small hand stroking his chest and shoulder.

"I suppose that's okay, then." He muttered. She hugged him to her and kissed his shoulder. Soon, he was too distracted by her wandering tiny hands to be upset. It really wasn't fair that she could do that.

*glee*

Mercedes and Kurt were both glaring at Rachel across the table at the coffee shop. She fidgeted in her seat. Did they really have to look at her like that? She wasn't doing anything wrong. She had nothing to feel guilty about.

"Really, Rachel? Santana?" Kurt's voice dripped disappointment. That hurt. It hurt quite a bit. She raised her chin a little.

"She's not that bad," Rachel muttered.

"Not that bad? Are we even talking about the same person? Santana Lopez?" Mercedes was stunned.

"You guys don't understand. You are both popular. People _like_ you. We all know that is not true in my case. I just…I wanted…I like having friends—people liking _me_. I feel like I live in a plastic bubble. Finn and Puck are almost too protective. I think they may scare people off. I have you two, which I love. I love being part of the diva squad, but Kurt you're at Dalton and I never see you. I don't like dumping on Mercedes all the time because she has a life and other friends. And Santana…she kind of needs me. It feels good to be needed, to know that I can help someone."

Mercedes was the first to crack. Her shoulders slumped slightly and her eyes went soft. She knew Rachel was in a pretty isolated little world. It was not that Puck and Finn had purposefully coordinated it that way. It had more ended up that way. First, there had been the Jesse thing, which had taken the little drama queen a little while to get over. Then, there had been the realization that the three of them were in some kind of relationship. They had to keep things quiet, and they had to isolate themselves a little because of it. The latest had been the attack by ben Israel, Puck and Finn had gone a little overboard. No one was going to come anywhere near their girl, no one would ever hurt her again. All of those things had contributed to the current situation. Kurt and Mercedes, and the rest of glee to a lesser extent, were able to break into her world, but they were the only ones. Mercedes could understand why Rachel would be eager to make any friends she could.

Kurt was irritated. He didn't want to feel badly for Rachel, he wanted to be able to yell at her. However, he knew he couldn't do that to her. She was right. Damn it! Why did she have to be right? He knew that Finn was too overprotective. Puck wasn't quite as bad, but he had his moments. They were so worried about Rachel being hurt or injured, they didn't realize they were insulating her a little too much. He was too far away to be fully effective. Sometimes, he really hated the distance that kept him away from his diva squad. Santana might be just the cure for Rachel's growing isolation. _I can not believe I'm agreeing with her_. _I should have my head checked_.

"Fine, but if she _hurts_ you," Kurt threatened. Rachel just laughed at them.

"Then you'll have to stand in line behind my boys," her tone was smug. Kurt and Mercedes both rolled their eyes at her, which just made her laugh again because they had done it at the exact same time—like they'd planned it or something.

"Whatever," Mercedes shrugged, "If Kurt and I happen to be closer we might just get her first." Then she high fived Kurt.

"Mercedes! Kurt! You guys need to trust me."

"Oh, honey, we do. We don't trust her." Kurt looked completely serious.

*glee*

The only person who hadn't complained, or read her the riot act was Puck. She was surprised because Puck was not at all shy about expressing himself. Usually loudly, with hands waving and veins bulging in his neck. He actually seemed totally cool with everything, which Rachel had to admit in the inner recesses of her soul seemed a little out of character for him.

It was Sunday afternoon and they were tangled together in her sheets. She was sprawled across the massive wall of muscle that made up his torso. She traced lazy circles with her fingertip across his skin and peeked up at him through the curtain of her hair. He was gently stroking her lower back down to the curve of her ass.

"What is it, shorty?"

"You haven't yelled at me, yet," she murmured against his skin.

"Don't plan on it if you keep up what you're doing."

"I mean, about the party. About Santana." Puck stilled under her and she peeked at him again. He was watching her.

"What about Santana," he asked warily.

"I think she and I are friends now," she whispered trying to gauge his reaction. He got the broody look he usually wore when he was considering something seriously.

"Why would I yell at you for that?" Puck seemed genuinely surprised.

"Kurt…and Finn are worried she might hurt me." Puck's arm tightened around her, pulling her to him so he could place a gentle kiss on her brow.

"Not gonna happen." He was so calm.

"How can you be sure? I mean, I was a little nervous I must admit."

"Baby girl, do you know who came and told me you were…in trouble?"

"Santana?"

"Yeah. She hunted me down and told me to focus on you, that you were all that mattered. She cares about you, Rachel. She'd never hurt you." Rachel thought about that for a few minutes.

"What about the party? You haven't yelled at me for that, either." Puck rolled over and flipped Rachel so that she was on her back under him. He nudged her thighs open and pressed against her.

"It was a dumbass thing to do. You were okay. You won't do it again. If I spend all my time yelling at you, I don't get to do anything else." He pressed against her again to emphasize his point. "I'd rather spend my time doing anything else."

She slid her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.


	11. VDay Diva Drama

_A/N: Thank you so much to everyone for their kind words. For a long time there were no reviews and I assumed it was because people felt pervy for reading about a triad/triple/whatever. So to those of you who were brave enough to admit that you both read it AND liked it, thank you. I have no idea where our timeline is…mostly because Rachel wasn't paying close attention to time for awhile. I am now going to attempt to pay attention to the passing of time. (Let's hope that works out for me.)_

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T…" Rachel picked up the phone and answered it.

"Yeah, 'Cedes?"

"Do you know what today is?" Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, it's Monday."

"It's February 7th." Rachel suppressed a sigh.

"Okay…it's not your birthday and it's not Kurt's, so what exactly is that supposed to mean to me?" It wasn't that Rachel didn't love Mercedes. It was just that she _really_ needed to finish this paper for her AP English class.

"It's a week until Valentine's Day." Rachel dropped the pen she'd been tapping impatiently against her chin. _Valentine's Day_. To be completely honest, she had been dreading Valentine's Day. There was a long drawn out build up to the big day. Then all the boys tried to do whatever they could to impress their various girlfriends. Everything was so much harder with two boyfriends, and she figured that all the normal drama of Valentine's Day wouldn't be doubled—it would be squared. They would both be watching her like a hawk to see her reactions to everything. They would each buy her flowers, and watch to see which flowers she sniffed the most. They would buy her candy, and watch to see which candy she liked best. If they bough jewelry—they'd watch her to see which necklace or bracelet she wore. If they bought her stuffed animals—they'd be checking to see which would get the place of honor on her bed. _I think I feel a migraine coming on_.

"Shut. up!"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, I didn't realize it was that close…" Oh god, maybe she could become a foreign exchange student in the next seven days? Or perhaps she could be taken hostage in some sort of bank robbery? She might be shot, but she'd get better, right?

"Rachel!"

"Ow! You don't have to yell in my ear!"

"I called your name five times."

"Oh."

"So what are you guys going to do?" Rachel closed her eyes. She hoped nobody was going to put ideas in their heads. She knew she wasn't that lucky, Kurt had probably been bugging them for months. _Fuck my life_. She'd heard Finn say that once and it seemed appropriate. Vulgar, but it definitely got the point across.

"I don't know. Um, Mercedes, I'd really love to talk to you about this, but if I don't finish this paper I will be in huge trouble."

"Oh. Okay. I'll talk to you later." Great. She could tell that Mercedes' feelings had been hurt. She was trying to avoid that. Now Kurt was going to call her and he was going to press and press until she caved and then her boys would find out she didn't want to touch Valentine's Day with a 30 foot pole and then they'd get all upset and god she was babbling in her head! She sat up. She deliberately shut off her phone. She changed into her exercise clothes and went running.

It was raining. It was getting late…around 7 o' clock…and Rachel had been running for awhile. She didn't want to go home because she knew they'd be sitting there, waiting for her. Damn it! Where could she go? Rachel stopped and looked around. She shook her head. She had no idea where she was. She backtracked. Oh, yeah. She was over by Breadstix. Well…crap. She'd left everything at home. Her phone, her purse. She had her ipod, but that wasn't going to do much. By the time Rachel got home she was absolutely soaked to the bone and extremely pissed off. Her boys weren't there. Thank god. She really could not deal with them right now.

**V-Day Countdown 5 days 15 hours 30 minutes**

Finn and Puck stood by Rachel's locker until right before the bell. She never showed. The rest of the day she managed to avoid them. She acted like everything was fine, but she seemed slightly strained. What was wrong with her? Finn was baffled. He and Puck hadn't done anything that would normally upset her. He checked with Kurt to make sure. Sometimes, what would upset a girl wasn't obvious to the average guy. He and Puck had occasionally screwed up and gotten their girl angry with them. Not lately, though. They'd both been focused on making Rach's Valentine's Day absolutely wonderful. That sort of thing was super important to chicks…women. They wanted to feel special and important to the men in their life. Finn had always tried to make sure that Valentine's Day was nice for his mom, but this year she had Burt to make her day special.

"What the _hell_?" Puck was counting to ten, really he was.

Rachel was sitting at a table in the cafeteria eating lunch with Mike and Sam. Mike said something and Rachel laughed, placing her hand on his arm. Finn could feel his blood boil. He tried to breathe slowly, carefully. Rachel had been acting weird all day. What on earth was going on? This was so unlike her.

Puck and Finn walked slowly, calmly over to the table.

"Rachel?" Puck was trying to make his voice calm, relaxed. She turned

and smiled at the both of them. She seemed happy to see them. They sat down on either side of her and she gave each of them a brief kiss on the cheek. Lunch was surreal for both boys, it passed in a strange, almost dream like manner. They knew something was going on, but Rachel appeared to be acting normally. They couldn't ask her what was going on because she wasn't doing anything different or unusual. They just both had a feeling of foreboding.

*glee*

_You know, hobbit, when they start to bug me it must be bad._ Rachel sighed.

_Both of them, or Puck?_

_Puck._

_It's complicated._

_Your shit always is._

_Nice. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?_

Rachel decided to run again. She wasn't at home very much lately, and she left her phone at home. If her dads figured out what she was doing they would be very unhappy. One of the reasons she had a cell phone was for safety. When she wasn't running, she was at the barre running herself through exercises. Her ballet teacher was happy to give her a couple extra hours of practice. She stopped sneaking off to see the boys after their fight club. She had a lot of time to think, and with her sense of the dramatic she had worked Valentine's Day into some sort of horrific massacre.

Rachel had settled into her running pace and was pounding pavement when she sensed someone behind her. That happened sometimes. She glanced over her shoulder and stopped. She sighed.

"So, you shut your phone off." Santana stood on the sidewalk watching her.

"Yeah. I left it at home, too. I figured if it was shut off people wouldn't assume I was ignoring them."

"Right now, people are freaking out because they assume that for whatever, and I'm quoting here, 'chick batty' reason you are going to dump their collective asses on or around Valentine's Day."

"I'd rather just get shot in the leg or something." Santana's eyes widened in surprise.

"Well, that's an extreme alternative, Rachel. Any particular reason you're hoping to get shot?"

"I'd be able to skip Valentine's Day altogether." Santana's jaw dropped. She was truly schocked.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Rachel was tired of holding everything in. She was tired of pretending that everything was okay. She verbally vomited all over Santana. She told her absolutely everything—all her fears and worries about Valentine's Day. Santana stood there and appeared to be listening to everything Rachel said. She gesticulated wildly. She spoke passionately. Then she stood there staring at Santana.

"You done?" Rachel shrugged.

"Yeah. I guess so."

"You have got to be the Arch-High Queen of the Drama Queens. Do you seriously think all _that_ is going to happen on Valentine's Day?" Rachel's cheeks turned pink.

"It could. It's possible." Santana rolled her eyes. Then she got her evil look.

"How badly do you want to skip out on V-Day?"

"I'm willing to get shot, Santana. I'd say that's pretty bad." She looked hopeful. "Do you have a gun?"

"No! That's ridiculous! Rachel…would you be willing to kiss me? If I could guarantee that you won't have to worry about V-Day at all? It would have to involve tongue to work right." Rachel frowned. She liked having Santana as a friend, but she didn't like Santana in _that_ way. She wasn't attracted to her.

"Yeah. I guess so, but Santana how would that take care of anything? I wouldn't be doing it on purpose to piss off the boys, would I?"

"No! Of course not. Tomorrow, school. See you there." Santana turned and started jogging down the street. Rachel turned and went home.

*glee*

The next day at school Rachel was scattered. She could barely pay attention in class. She kept nervously tapping her foot, or her pen. Finn and Puck definitely noticed, but at this point they were afraid to ask—afraid that her response would be to break up with them or something. They were walking Rachel to lunch when Santana walked out of the nurse's office. She saw Rachel, grabbed her by the arms and kissed her. It was an intense kiss, it went on for several seconds and Puck and Finn could obviously see tongue. Rachel was also obviously kissing her back. Santana pulled back and smiled at Rachel.

"There. Happy Valentine's Day." Rachel blinked at her.

"What?"

"Just…make sure you don't kiss anybody else. You're contagious now."

"What?" Rachel squeaked. Her eyes were huge in her face. She'd turned pale. Santana gave her evil grin.

"You. Are. Contagious. You've got mono." Rachel gave a horrified sort of moan.

Puck and Finn stared at Santana. Then they turned and stared at Rachel who was still pale looking. They moved toward her, but her hand shot out in front of her.

"Wait! If Santana's right, if I'm contagious, you guys have to stay back." She backed away from them carefully and ran to the nurse's office.

*glee*

Finn moped around his house. His mother gave an irritated sigh and called Kurt.

"Kurt, honey, it's me. Look, he's doing it again. Can you talk to him?" Carole always felt a little thrill when Kurt called her mom, but she was slightly uncomfortable calling herself that. She was worried about Finn. She wasn't sure what was wrong exactly, although she was sure it somehow involved Rachel. It always did. Carole would have felt better if she could hate Rachel, but she liked the tiny brunette. She was a good influence on Finn, and it was obvious that Rachel loved her son very much.

"Finn, Mom says you're moping all over the house. Again. What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing. Santana made out with my girlfriend in the hall at school. Full-on tongue and everything. Oh yeah, and my girlfriend was totally kissing her back. No big." Kurt was stunned, so he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Finn? Sarcasm is not your forte. So, wait…Rachel did what?"

"And now I guess Rachel has mono and is contagious, so we won't be seeing her for the next few weeks. We're probably not even together anymore. She'll probably dump us as soon as she's not contagious."

"Oh my god! What the hell are you people doing down there?"

"I don't know! She's been acting weird for days and now I just don't know!"

"Finn, go talk to Puck. You two need to figure this out together. Call me if you need help, but go talk to him."

"Do I have to? He's in a really pissy mood right now."

"I can only imagine. Yes, you have too."

"Fuck my life."

Puck was drunk. He lay in his bed, surrounded by empty cans. Finn's eyebrow shot up his forehead. There were a _lot_ of cans. Were these all from today? He frowned at Puck who glared back.

"Kurt says we have to talk to each other to figure this out."

Puck grunted at him.

"Puck? I'm not leaving, so you might as well talk to me. Did you drink all of these today?" Puck looked at all the cans around him.

"I'm not sure. Don't think so." Finn sighed and sat on the only chair in Puck's room.

"What exactly are we supposed to figure out, do you suppose?" Puck sighed and stared at the ceiling.

"Dunno. What do we know?" Finn shook his head and grinned to himself. She was really rubbing off on them. When they tackled a task now, they always made a list. It was just something they did. Finn searched on Puck's desk for a notebook and pen or pencil. He found some and sat back down.

"One—she's been acting weird all week long." Finn said as he wrote.

"Not Monday. Monday at school, she was fine." Finn corrected what he'd written.

"So who talked to her Monday?"

"Nobody at school because she was fine. After school." Finn made a notation.

"So we call people?" Puck shrugged. Okay, Finn amended to himself, _he_ would call people. It was a pitifully small list. Rachel didn't have a lot of close friends. Kurt, Mercedes and Santana. That was it. She was on friendly terms with Tina and Brittany, but they weren't close with Rachel. Quinn wasn't really a variable. Rachel had never quite forgiven Quinn for everything that she'd done to _her_ boys. Finn called Kurt first.

"Hey, Kurt, did you talk to Rachel on Monday night?"

"No. I talked to her during lunch on Monday, remember."

"Oh, yeah. Okay…do you know if anybody did talk to her Monday night?"

"I think Mercedes mentioned that she was going to call Rachel. Why?"

"Well, we realized she's been acting weird most of the week, but just since Tuesday. So we figure something must have happened Monday night."

"That is entirely logical. I would call Mercedes."

"Right."

Finn had to look up Mercedes' phone number in his contact list. He usually didn't need to call her.

"Hello?" Mercedes sounded confused.

"Mercedes?"

"Finn?"

"Yeah, um, did you talk to Rachel on Monday night?"

"Sure, I called to talk to her about Valentine's Day, **not** that _she_ was interested. She basically blew me off and hung up on me." Mercedes sounded irritated.

"Well, what exactly did she say to you? And what, exactly, did you say to her?"

"Why?"

"Please, Mercedes."

"Okay. Let me think for minute. Um, I asked if she knew what day it was. She didn't. I told her it was February 7th and that Valentine's Day was only a week away. She sounded upset about that. I asked her what you guys were going to do, and she said she really had to go. End of conversation."

"Thank you, Mercedes." Mercedes told him not to worry and that she'd see him next week.

Finn sat in the chair, frowning. Puck watched him blearily from the bed. He wrote in the notebook and then frowned some more. Puck let his head fall onto his pillow with an exasperated sigh.

"So…what did she say?" Puck was irritated. Finn looked up at him with a sheepish expression.

"Sorry. It has something to do with Valentine's Day." Puck shot straight up in bed.

"Valentine's Day. Santana said 'Happy Valentine's Day'. Rachel _knew_ Santana was going to kiss her. She just didn't know she was going to get mono." Puck stared at Finn who stared back. _Valentine's Day_?

"So Santana knew what was bothering Rachel?" Finn made some quick notes.

"Hand me the damn phone." Finn handed over the phone. Puck glared blearily at the keys and punched in Santana's number.

"What do you want, Finn?"

"It's me."

"Oh. What do you want, Puck?"

"What did you promise her, and why the hell would you?"

"I promised to help her because she's my friend." Santana's voice was fierce. Sometimes, Santana felt like Rachel was her only true friend because she knew everything and she didn't give a rip. She still wanted to be friends.

"Okay. So helping our girlfriend involves you licking her tonsils?" Puck was pissed and he wasn't shy about telling Santana off. She should _know_ that this wasn't okay with him, or with Finn.

"Well, she asked me to shoot her, so I'm thinking you should be happy with the kiss." Puck shot up in the bed again. He really shouldn't do that. It made him slightly nauseous.

"She asked you to do what?" He yelled into the phone.

"Your girlfriend, Rachel Berry, asked me to shoot her."

"But she was joking, right?"

"No, I think she was totally serious. She was kind of sad that I didn't have a gun. She didn't want me to shoot anything vital. She suggested her arm."

"What the hell? Why would she want that?"

"She wanted to avoid Valentine's Day. So I told her I'd help her, but she'd have to kiss me and it'd involve tongue. She was worried, but she was more anxious about V-Day than pissing you two off."

"What the hell? Why would she want that?"

"Puck, you said that already. Pay attention. I am going to explain this very slowly and carefully. Then you have to explain it to Finn. You two have to both understand this, okay." Santana proceeded to explain everything clearly and carefully in excruciating detail. Well, damn it. Their girl was right. Puck had planned on doing all of that. Finn had, too. Puck knew him as well as he knew himself. Fuck.

When Puck got off the phone, he had to repeat everything slowly and carefully to Finn. Not because Finn was stupid (he wasn't), but because it was just so damn crazy. Rachel was overdramatic. In fact, their girl took drama to it's own galaxy. Finn had to wrap his head around some of her crazier shit, and this was right up there. He put his head in his hands and sighed.

"So we're still jealous of each other, and she knows? And she'd rather have someone shoot her, than deal with it?"

"Yeah. I think that's about it." Finn looked at Puck.

"Why are we still jealous of each other?" Puck shrugged. How the hell should he know?

"I don't know. She says she loves us both. Do you believe her?" Finn frowned. That wasn't fair. He trusted Rachel with everything inside him.

"Yes. I believe her."

"Well, I do too. So why are we still having problems?" Puck was frustrated. Why was this still a problem for them?

"Do you trust me?" Finn was watching Puck, waiting for his reaction. Puck frowned at him. Finn was his best friend. They were closer than brothers, really. He felt completely comfortable around Finn—he could tell Finn anything. Rachel bound them even closer together.

"Yeah, I do."

"Me too, I mean, I trust you. I love you, you know?" Puck stared at Finn. They'd never said it out loud. He knew Finn loved him. He loved Finn. It was weird because it wasn't romantic or sexual, but it was pure and unconditional. He hadn't ever known you could feel like that about someone. His feelings for Rachel were different, and they were mixed up with sexual attraction, but he supposed that's what romantic love was all about. As far as he could tell, he and Finn were going to be with Rachel for a long, long time (he sure as hell wasn't going anywhere), so maybe it was a good thing that they loved each other.

"Me too." Finn grinned at him. "Do you want a hug or something Hudson?"

"Fuck off, Puckerman. You don't have to ruin the moment by being a dick." Puck shrugged. He couldn't help it sometimes.

"Now what?" Finn threw his hands up in the air.

"We figure out how to fix all this, and prove we can handle V-Day? I don't want to spend next year with her shot or something to avoid us. God knows she's crazy enough to figure out how to do it, too." Puck nodded. If Finn was thinking about next year, then he was planning on being around for a long time too. Good.

"You know we can't see her for like, a month, or some shit." Finn groaned. "Don't worry, Dude. It'll give us a chance to figure out how to make it work."


	12. VDay Round Two

_A/N: I would like to point out that mono is a really tricky disease with a lot of variables regarding the incubation period (usually 4-7 weeks), duration of illness (2-4 weeks), and period during which the sufferer is contagious (can be as long at 18 months). However, I am using the version of mono that exists within the gleeverse. There, apparently, you show symptoms almost immediately and are fine after several weeks. So if anyone is unhappy with my mono…yell at the writers of glee._

For her part, Santana had come and visited Rachel quite a bit. She'd helped her take showers and helped feed her. It was not as exciting as it might sound. Rachel was sick, and really weak. During the first couple days, she had sworn at Santana who just rolled her eyes at her.

"You hang out with _Puck_ and that's the best you can do? I'm going to have to speak to your boy."

"He's…careful…around me. Finn…slips…more. Usually…if they…think…I…can't…hear." Santana just grunted and arranged Rachel in the bed.

It had been two weeks. Two really long weeks during which she had not been able to see her boys. They called her on the phone, and talked to her. They sent her emails and messages, but she couldn't see them while she was contagious. As soon as her doctor gave permission, they were on her doorstep. She was in bed because she was still incredibly weak. It was the worst feeling in the world. Even lifting her head off the pillow was exhausting. She was going to kill Santana—as soon as she could sit up without getting dizzy and passing out.

The boys bounded up the stairs and were in her room. She lay against the pillows propped at her back and watched them. They looked dismayed to see her lying in the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Finn's voice was husky and gentle.

"Like…crap." Puck grinned at her. That was their girl.

"This is a pretty elaborate plan to skip out on Valentine's Day," Puck observed. Finn nodded.

"Didn't…plan…this…part."

"We figured as much. You freaked out when you had tonsillitis and thought you had to have surgery. I can't imagine you would have gone along with Santana's plan if you'd known about the mono." Finn was right. Rachel tried to shake her head, but couldn't. She gave a sort of frustrated sigh.

"So Santana told us everything." Puck was not happy, but he was trying not to yell at Rachel. He figured she'd punished herself, especially now that he could see her. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Rachel, we are _not_ happy right now," Finn stated it so simply, and yet Rachel seemed to flinch from him.

"Sorry…so…sorry." Tears slipped down her cheeks. She didn't try to wipe them away, and the boys realized that maybe she really couldn't. Finn grabbed a couple tissues and dabbed at her cheeks. She smiled weakly at him.

"We know you didn't mean for all this to happen, but really Rachel? Are we that awful?" Finn wanted to know. More tears slipped down her cheeks, which Finn dabbed at with tissues.

"No," she whispered, "I just…worry."

"You thought we were going to be jealous idiots." Puck wasn't asking. He made it a statement. She gave him a look. She had very expressive eyes.

"Okay, maybe it would have gone down like that," Finn conceded. He really did not want to fight with his sick girlfriend that he hadn't seen in two weeks. Puck had the grace to look embarrassed. They both knew it probably would have gone done _exactly_ like that. She knew them both too well.

"The point is, baby girl, that we want Valentine's Day with you—and we promise to make sure that none of what you worried about will happen." Rachel's expressive eyes were hard at work. She managed to convey a welter of emotion in the glance she shot at Puck and then at Finn.

"We'll figure out the details in a couple weeks when you're better," Finn added.

*glee*

During the next couple of weeks Rachel enjoyed certain aspects of her convalescence. Finn very carefully carried her downstairs for her Friday afternoon movie. She ended up cuddled against either Finn or Puck. If one of them had to get up to get anything, they carefully propped her up against the other. It was almost like being a big doll. It was incredibly annoying to not be able to do anything herself, or to have any measure of control over her activities, but she liked being carried. It was nice to cuddle against Puck or Finn's broad chests and have their strong arms wrapped around her. Maybe she could convince them to do it when she was better.

Eventually, she was ready to go back to school. Thank god, she'd kept up on all her studies, which she supposed was one of the only advantages to being intelligent in high school. Puck and Finn kept an eye on her, but aside from being a little weak still—she was fine. She used this as a shameless excuse to hang on either Puck or Finn's arm as she walked down the hall. Puck didn't have the heart to call her on it when her little arm was linked through his, and she sort of cuddled against him while at the same time managing to look weak and vaguely ill. Finn just enjoyed it. He liked being able to walk the halls of McKinley with his girl on his arm.

"Try not to look so smug, baby," Rachel muttered at him out of the corner of her mouth.

"What?" He leaned down towards her to better hear what she was trying to whisper.

"Stop grinning like that. You look proud, smug, all together too much like you're showing me off." Finn frowned.

"Sorry."

"Better. Let's get to the cafeteria before I pass out in the hall." Finn got a slightly panicked expression.

"Are you serious?"

"I feel dizzy," she muttered faintly. Finn scooped her up in his arms and continued walking down the hall. She hit him on the shoulder and he frowned at her. Not because she hit him, he usually thought that was kind of cute—no it was because it wasn't nearly as hard as she normally hit him.

"Finn," she protested weakly. Then she just sort of lay against his chest and didn't say anything. Well, crap. He got to the cafeteria and drew quite a few looks, which he ignored completely. He didn't give a crap what anyone else thought. Puck was already sitting at their table. He glanced their way because everyone else was, but when he saw Rachel in Finn's arms he stood up.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure. She got dizzy in the hall." The boys were so focused on Rachel they didn't notice Santana come up next to them.

"She's just weak from the mono. She probably needs to lie down for a little bit. Take her to the nurse's office." Finn nodded and headed off to the nurse's office with Rachel in his arms and Puck next to him. The nurse let Rachel rest on the cot in her office for lunch and the next two periods. By then, Rachel was feeling better and insisted on going to glee.

Puck carried her to glee, despite Rachel's protests and held her on his lap. She didn't even try to get off of his lap after the glare he gave her.

"Don't even think about it, shorty."

She tried to pay attention to Mr. Schue, but she must have fallen asleep part way through the class. Puck shook her gently, and when she woke up it was just the three of them in the choir room.

"C'mon Rach, we're taking you home. I've already called your dads."

Finn drove her home, and Puck followed in Rachel's car. It seemed the smartest way because there was no way in hell Finn could fold up his long legs and squeeze into her car. When they got to her house, they got her upstairs, stripped her down—against her wishes—and put her in her pajamas. They tucked her into bed and Puck brought her some soup and made her drink it out of a mug. By the time she was done she was exhausted again. They both kissed her on the forehead and left.

It took a while for Rachel to really feel like herself again. She had dismissed Valentine's Day from her mind because it was almost April. Her dads were gone for the weekend and all she was really thinking about was lying around and being completely lazy. When she got home, she realized that wasn't going to be happening. There were softly lit candles all over the place. Her romantic music was drifting out from the living room. Her boys were both standing there waiting for her. She blinked at them. They were both dressed in tuxedos. Where on earth had they gotten those? Especially tuxes that would fit Puck in the shoulders and Finn—well…in general. They came forward and each took a hand. They led her into the living room, where the coffee table held a small pile of boxes. Rachel's jaw dropped.

"What is all this?"

"Happy Valentine's Day," they chorused at her with proud grins. She felt somewhat weak in the knees. They saw her wobble a little and they both put an arm around her to steady her. They sat her down on the couch and Puck handed her a box.

"You should know that every single thing here was picked out by the both of us together." She smiled at them both and carefully undid the wrapping paper. It was a box of vegan chocolate hearts. She kissed them each on the cheek.

"Thank you. These are my favorites," she smiled at them shyly. Finn handed her the next box, which was small and flat. She frowned to herself as she opened it, and then squealed in pleasure. Inside were three tickets to a local production of Bizet's "Carmen". She hadn't really mentioned the opera to the boys because she figured they would rather eat glass than go with her. She threw her arms around each boy's neck and kissed each hard on the mouth.

"So you like that okay?" Puck hadn't been sure she would even like "Carmen", but he knew she loved the arts.

"Oh, yes! Oh, thank you both so much!" She was grinning widely and clutching the tickets to her chest. Finn gently took them from her and put them back in their box. Puck thrust another box at her. This one was larger. She carefully opened the box and pulled out a stuffed Eeyore that was large enough to hold in her arms and rest her head on.

"Oooh! He's so cute! I love him." She hugged her Eeyore to her.

"He kind of reminded us of you…because sometimes people don't notice how awesome you are." Finn offered this with a sweet, earnest expression on his face. She touched his cheek lightly with her fingertips. She kissed him and then kissed Puck.

"You guys really thought that much about every single thing you got me?" Her voice was tinged with awe. They moved in closer and cuddled her between them. She received a couple gentle kisses on her cheeks and forehead.

"We wanted to make this a good experience for you, shorty," Puck murmured into her temple, "cuz we plan on being around for more of these in the future, and we'd really like to avoid you shooting yourself in the foot." She hit him in the chest.

Finn handed her the next box. It was small and flat. More tickets? If her boys were willing to sit through two different performances for her…that was true love. She was smiling to herself as she lifted the lid and then she gasped.

"Oh my god…" Nestled in the box was a beautiful gold necklace with three interlocking hearts. She didn't realize she was crying until Finn handed her tissues. She scrubbed at her cheeks.

"Do you hate it," Finn asked anxiously.

"No! No, I love it," she choked out. Puck gently took it out of the box and fastened it around her neck. She touched it with her fingertips and smiled at both boys. She flung her arms around Puck's neck and kissed him again. This time however, her little teeth were nibbling on his lower lip and her tongue was licking that same lower lip. His arms came around her and he kissed her back willingly. He hadn't really kissed her like this in…well…god it really didn't bear thinking about. She broke the kiss off sooner than he would have liked and then she attacked Finn. She pulled him to her and began kissing him just as passionately as she'd kissed Puck. Both boys sat back on the couch, slightly out of breath. Their girl looked happy and sort of glowing. She was smiling that smile that lit up her whole face.

"Thank you both. I was worried, but you two are the best, the most wonderful boyfriends ever. I love you."

"Wait, shorty, it gets better." Puck was grinning at her. It wasn't quite a smirk, but he was obviously proud of himself for something. They led her into the dining room where they'd made her dinner. It was a vegetable curry and it was delicious. When she was just about done, Puck stood up kissed her on the cheek and went upstairs. Rachel turned and looked at Finn. He shrugged and gave her his half smile.

"It's a surprise, you know?" Finn took all the dishes into the kitchen, rinsed them, and put them in the dishwasher. Then he came out and scooped Rachel up his arms. As being carried up to her room by a beautiful boy in a tux wasn't exactly a horrible thing, Rachel just shut up and enjoyed it.

Finn carried her straight into her bathroom, where Puck had readied a bubble bath. The boys carefully stripped her down and put her in the tub. The water was hot, just like she liked it. She laid in the tub and just enjoyed it. After a little while, the boys came and checked on her. They'd changed out of the tuxes, which made complete sense when they knelt by the tub and began washing her. Finn scrubbed her back while Puck efficiently scrubbed her legs and tried to do her feet. She squealed and moved away. She stood up in the tub and the boys just sat back on their heels and stared at her. Water droplets and bubbles were clinging to her gold skin. Finn' s mouth was dry. Puck's tongue seemed stuck to the roof of his mouth. She carefully stepped out of the tub and grabbed a towel.

Rachel moved out to her bedroom and then glanced back at her boys who seemed frozen.

"Noah? Finn? Boys?" They turned and stared at her standing in her room with just a towel clutched to her chest. The necklace they'd given her was around her neck and they could see bubbles clinging to her legs. They stood and came to stand in front of her. She bit her lower lip and returned their gaze. Their eyes had that look. She knew that look. She hadn't seen it in quite some time—she'd been too sick and her boys weren't completely heartless. She could feel herself grow wet under their heated gaze.

Puck reached out and stroked Rachel's cheek with the back of his hand. She leaned against his hand. Her towel slipped and she stood there before them, completely naked and completely vulnerable. Finn's fingertips lightly traced her collarbone. His thumb stroked her shoulder. The boys both leaned toward her at the same time. Puck, standing in front of her, kissed her, his tongue sliding into her mouth. Finn was standing behind her, his muscled chest pressed against her back. He nipped her neck and kissed his way down her shoulder. One hand had come up and was gently teasing her nipple to hardness. She moaned into Puck's mouth.

They moved toward the bed because they figured that would be the safest place for Rachel to be. She settled back on the pillows and they lay down on either side of her. They both tried for gentleness, but occasionally failed because it had been a _long, long_ time since they'd been with their girl. She wasn't really in a gentle mood anyway. She'd missed her boys a lot, and she needed them. In fact, they all came embarrassingly fast the first time. Rachel blushed and hid her head. Puck laughed at her and Finn kissed her shoulder.

"Baby girl, we're not going anywhere so you might as well come out."

"Rach, I am the last person in the world who would give you crap for this." Finn had actually held out longer than either of them. The irony was not lost on Puck.

They took it a little slower the second time. The boys were everywhere at once. It was crazy and perfect and just the way it worked for them. Somehow, they figured out how to make it work and they took Rachel along for the ride. For her part, her little hands wandered everywhere. At one point, Puck was pounding into her mercilessly and suckling at a breast, while she had her little fingers wrapped around Finn and her tongue down his throat. Later, Finn was buried in her up to the hilt and biting the spot where her neck and shoulder joined while Rachel was busy wrapping her lips around Puck.

Rachel woke up later than usual the next morning, but she'd had a long night. She grinned to herself. Finn and Puck were both wrapped around her. She wriggled in her spot and enjoyed being snuggled between them. Finn gave a sort of sleepy grumble and his hand moved up to cup a breast. She turned toward him and kissed his jaw. He blinked at her a couple times and then smiled.

"Hi." She smiled back.

"Hi." He leaned towards her and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"I probably should brush my teeth." Rachel sighed and nodded. She glanced back at Puck, who was still dead to the world. She shrugged and headed to the bathroom. She took a shower with Finn, which degenerated into him taking her in the shower. She couldn't scream very well in the shower because her mouth kept filling up with water so she settled for biting Finn's shoulder. His moan into her neck let her know he liked what she was doing. They eventually got clean, and got out of the shower. They both brushed their teeth and headed downstairs. Rachel made vegan pancakes, which Finn thought were actually pretty good. You couldn't hardly tell they weren't normal pancakes. She glanced at Finn. He watched her fingers touch the necklace and he smiled at her.

"See, we didn't do such a terrible job."

"No, you did everything perfectly. Everything."

*glee*


	13. Carmen Capers

"We won! We won!"

Everyone was jumping up and down and yelling. Finn and Puck had Rachel caught up in a three-way hug. Kurt came up with Blaine trailing behind him. Finn and Puck released Rachel and stood up. Kurt had a sort of sad half-smile. Rachel knew it was because he felt like he should have been with them. She knew he missed New Directions. He put his hands on his hips and mock-glared at them.

"I can't believe you kept the whole original song idea a secret," he huffed at Rachel. Rachel noted the body language between Blaine and Kurt and smiled wickedly at both of them.

"It looks like you've kept your own little secrets." Puck and Finn frowned at each other. What was she talking about?

"I should have been up there with you guys." Kurt sighed sadly. Blaine put a comforting arm around his waist and whispered something in his ear. Puck and Finn realized what Rachel meant at about the same time. Puck grinned, but Finn frowned.

"Uh, Blaine? I think you and I should have a chat," Finn's tone was serious and he had a steely glint in his eye. Kurt thought he recognized that look—apparently Rachel was rubbing off on the boys again. Blaine, for his part, did not look scared or nervous. He nodded and he and Finn went backstage to talk. Puck slid an arm around Rachel's waist and pulled her against him. She giggled at the look of irritation tinged with embarrassment on Kurt's face.

"I think it's kind of cute," Rachel said after a moment. "He just really cares about you and he doesn't want anyone to hurt you. That's what brothers do."

"Well, you might want to let that Blaine guy know that if he hurts you, I'll have to help Finn kick his ass."

"Noah Puckerman! Two against one is totally unfair!" Rachel was indignant.

"Well, baby, I've got Finn's back. It's just the way it works. I'm not saying we'd totally plow him under. I'm just saying he'd probably regret anything he did wrong. So he'd better not cheat on Kurt, or betray him, or make him cry."

Rachel and Kurt looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Finn and Blaine returned a minute later. Finn looked slightly happier and Blaine looked amused.

"Hey guys?" Mr. Schue waved them towards the New Directions group. "We've got to get to the bus."

*glee*

Kurt coming back to McKinley was almost enough to distract Rachel from Prom. Almost, but not quite. Prom was bound to be a freaking nightmare. Finn was laying across her bed scrawling in a notebook. The idea of writing their own songs had sort of inspired him, and he spent a lot of his spare time scrawling. When Rachel gave _that _sigh again, he stopped scrawling and looked up from his notebook.

"Look, we didn't fu—I mean, mess up—with Valentine's Day, right?" Rachel's blush and partial smile was answer enough.

"I don't understand why you can't just trust that we'll do fine?" Finn was starting to get irritated. He and Puck were _not_ total idiots. Hadn't they proved that they could handle anything their adorable diva could dish out?

"I do trust you. I trust Puck, too. It's just…I worry." Rachel was biting her lower lip again. If she wasn't so cute he'd probably turn her over his knees and spank her. That would get her out of her funk in a hurry. Then he got a visual of what that would look like and his eyes glazed over with lust. Rachel cocked her head at Finn. She knew that look, but she couldn't figure out why he would get excited about her worrying about Prom.

"Rachel," he muttered thickly, and then he pounced her. Rachel always liked being pounced, but Finn was usually too gentle and careful. She decided to enjoy it while it lasted. He trailed kisses down her neck while his fingers fumbled with her shirt. Soon his large hands were stroking down her back and he was sliding her shirt over her head. She tugged at his shirt until his chest was bare and his arms came back around her.

"Oh, Finn" she sighed as he settled between her thighs. He smiled up at her for a second and then bent his attention back to the delicate, intricate folds in front of him. Soon she had a pillow over her face to muffle her gasps and cries from ringing out in her room. Thank god her dads were downstairs, involved in an intense game of scrabble. They usually didn't bother Rachel in her room because they respected her privacy. That was a really good thing, since at the moment her ankles were behind Finn's head and that might be an awkward moment for everyone. She was grinning at the thought and Finn grinned back as he took slow, deep thrusts into her. His hands were gripping her hips and he was hitting all the right spots. Her eyes started to roll back in her head. This was Finn's favorite, watching her lose it. Her breath came fast in short gasps and her nails dug into his forearms. Her back arched off the bed and she bit her lip to keep from screaming. He smiled into her beautiful face, kissed her and let go.

They were curled around each other in the bed and Rachel had her head on his chest. Finn was pressing kisses along her hairline.

"So are you excited about Carmen?" Finn knew she was, he just liked how cute she got.

"Omigod! Yes! I am sooo excited." She started bouncing in the bed.

"So it's next Saturday night. So…do I get an extra day somewhere?" Finn was hoping she would say yes. She frowned for a moment and bit her lower lip and then hissed in pain. She'd bitten her lip a little too hard earlier.

"I suppose that's only fair," she mused aloud. "Maybe Wednesday or Thursday? I'm not sure how we'll work that out. We'll have to talk to my dads and Puck and you'll have to talk to your mom."

"Rach, do your dads even get what's going on? With all of us?" Rachel looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Do they realize that we're both your boyfriend? Or, whatever?"

"Well…they got a sort of look when they saw the necklace and I told them it was a late Valentine's Day present from the both of you. It was the same kind of look I got when I insisted I get a king size bed. I think they aren't exactly sure about what's going on, but my dads love me and they trust me."

"Uh-huh."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rachel's eyes glinted at Finn.

"Well…if I ever have a daughter I'm sure I will trust her and all that…but I would be worried about two guys hanging out with her in her room. I mean, I know how guys think. I know how _Puck_ thinks. It's scary to think about." Rachel giggled and hit him in the chest.

"We can have the talk with them if you want," she offered.

"Uh, no! No, no, I think we're fine." Rachel giggled again.

She got up and went into the bathroom. Finn trailed after her. He loved taking showers with Rachel. He would shower 3 or 4 times a day if it was with Rachel. It wasn't all about awesome shower sex. Sometimes it was just nice to soap each other up and rinse each other off. It felt special and intimate.

When they came downstairs, Rachel's dads took in the fact that their daughter _and_ Finn both had damp hair. They looked at each other. They weren't quite sure how to approach their daughter, but they did love and trust her. They just hoped that she loved and trusted them enough to talk to them about this eventually.

"Dads?"

"Yes, pumpkin?"

"You know that the boys are talking me to Bizet's Carmen, right?" Her dads smiled fondly at her.

"We haven't really heard about much else, lately."

"So is it okay if Finn comes and hangs out on Wednesday or Thursday since we won't be able to hang out on Saturday?"

"Well, sweetheart, he's going with you to Bizet's "Carmen", right?" Rachel nodded. "He'll be spending time with you then, won't he?"

"Yes, that's true, but Saturday is sort of Finn's day, and at the performance I'll be focused on the beautiful music—and Puck will be there too." Her dads frowned at each other. They understood what Rachel was talking about. They knew that the boys each got one day a week that was _theirs_. They understood what she wasn't quite saying, what she apparently wasn't quite ready to talk to them about.

"I suppose that would be okay. It is a school night so you'll only be able to stay until 9 or 10. And Finn, you need to get your mom's permission, too."

Finn nodded and Rachel beamed at the both of them.

_Hey, Noah?_

_What's up, shorty?_

_Finn wants an extra day, to make up for Carmen. Are you okay with that?_

_As long as it's not Sunday, it makes sense to me._

_Thank you for being you, Noah. I love you._

_3 u 2, shorty._

Rachel showed Finn who rolled his eyes.

"I would never take a Sunday," Finn muttered.

"Now you need to talk to your mom."

*glee*

Rachel was lying on her stomach on her bed and Puck couldn't help but admire the curve of her ass. His fingers started sliding up her thigh. She looked at him over her shoulder and gave him her 'take me' smile. He gave her a wicked grin and slid his fingers higher. She parted her legs and raised her ass in the air a little. He brushed his fingers against her panties and felt them grow damp. He grinned wider. He slid her panties off and admired the new view. He spread her legs a little more and knelt between them. She moved so that she was kneeling too with her back pressed to Puck's chest. He liked that because it gave him easier access to her chest, and, well, everywhere else too.

Puck unbuttoned her shirt and slid it off. He rid of her bra in short order as well. He palmed her breasts while he kissed the back of her neck.

"Noah," she sighed. He smiled into her shoulder and nipped her, lightly. She gave a soft moan and one of Puck's hands slid down her belly to the soft mound between her thighs. He slid a finger inside her and grinned to himself. She was so wet and it always sparked a sense of satisfaction and pride within him. He began to play with her and she gasped as he began to gently tease her clit.

"Noah…please," she moaned and moved her head restlessly from side to side.

"Shhh. I'm not going to leave you hanging, baby. Hang on just a minute." His lips tickled her ear and he knew that turned her on even more. Sometimes he was evil, but Rachel enjoyed every minute of it. His hands slid to her hips, which he gripped firmly. She looked at him over her shoulder. He grinned at her and gently applied pressure to her back. She understood what he was doing so she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the bed, which put her ass up in the air. Puck moved in closer, still gripping her hips, and slid into her moist heat. He closed his eyes for a second. Would it ever stop feeling like this? He wasn't sure, but he definitely hoped not. He knew Rachel loved this position because it hit everything just right. She already had a pillow to scream into. He grinned. That was their girl.

Rachel lay in the bed gasping for air. Puck lay next to her with a self-satisfied smirk. She glared at him and hit him in the chest.

"I know what you're thinking. Stop it right now." Puck kissed her on her sweaty forehead.

"Sorry, Rachel, but it's sort of your fault, you know?" Rachel snorted and flounced off to the shower. Puck smirked a little more since she couldn't see and then followed her into the bathroom.

*glee*

The week had passed in a flurry of excitement for Rachel. She was so excited about the boys taking her to Carmen that she floated through the halls with an ecstatic smile for everyone. By Friday, Puck and Finn felt like they were the guardians for someone who had mainlined an entire truckload of Pixy Stix. She was bouncy, exuberant, and smiled at everyone. _Everyone_. When they weren't with her, guys thought she was coming on to them. Sam and Artie had passed along some of what some guys were saying about their girl, and it took a lot of self-control to not punch faces in.

"Don't worry about it, though," Artie reassured them.

"Yeah, we've been keeping an eye on your girl," Sam confirmed.

"You've been keeping an eye on _our_ girl?" Puck wasn't sure he liked where this was headed. Artie and Sam looked at him strangely. When Sam spoke it was slowly and carefully, as though he thought Puck wasn't registering the information properly.

"Yeah. Your girl. You know, Rachel? The only girl you two ever hang out with? Puck, is this ringing a bell in there somewhere?" Puck glared at Sam. His eyes spoke volumes. _Dude, don't make me clock you in the hall because Rachel hates it when we do that_. Finn shrugged and shook his head slightly at Puck. Puck gave an exasperated sigh and relaxed out of the stance he'd unconsciously taken.

"Thanks, Sam. Artie. We do appreciate it. She's just _really_ excited about this Carmen thing this weekend. It makes us both feel better to know you guys are watching out for her," Finn thanked them both. He was grateful. It was hard enough to keep track of Rachel normally—let alone when she was bouncing off the walls. Sam and Artie both nodded.

"You want us to have Mike keep an eye on her, too?" Artie asked.

Sam was curious to hear their answer. The boys, despite the fact that they stuck to Rachel like barnacles, never welcomed conversation about their girl. Whenever the topic of discussion turned to Rachel, Puck and Finn grew extremely tight-lipped. Sam and Artie weren't even sure what the relationship between all of them was, exactly. The boys were protective of Rachel, but they always had been from what Sam could understand of life at WMHS before he'd transferred there. He'd heard that they'd all been friends for years. Since middle school, really. Sam had also heard that they'd all had a string of boyfriends and girlfriends, but that had never interfered in their friendship. He hadn't really seen any—except that weird period when Rachel wasn't speaking to the boys.

"Yeah." Finn was the one who responded after a glance at Puck. See? That's exactly what Sam meant. They start talking about Rachel, and all they get are monosyllabic answers to every question.

"She should be fine after this weekend," Puck muttered.

"That's true, Puck, but do you really want to have to explain to her why you beat up some idiot and got suspended?" Finn's argument was good. Sam shuddered at the thought of having explain that to the tiny brunette who seemed like such a little pistol at times. Sam slapped Finn on the back and nodded at Puck. He and Artie left them alone in the hall.

*glee*

Saturday night came and Rachel's dads kept glancing at the clock hoping it would be later than it was. She kept showing them outfits, calling the boys to make sure they had their tuxes cleaned and ready. Puck finally lost his temper.

"Rachel, am I a complete moron?"

"Well of course not, Noah," Rachel huffed into the phone.

"Do I come to school dressed decently every day?"

"Well, of course you do, Noah," Rachel sounded slightly less sure of herself now. 

"I managed to get dressed in the tux for V-Day, right?"

"Yes, you looked splendid, Noah, but," Puck interrupted her because at this point he was angry.

"Rachel! We are going to be there on time, dressed appropriately, and ready to take you to see Carmen. Relax! I love you, and I'll see you at 5:30 p.m."

Rachel stood there holding the phone in her hand for several minutes. Okay, maybe she'd gone a teensy bit overboard. She also supposed they had every right to get cranky at her. She sighed. She went into the closet and dug through it some more. Finally she found the dress she wanted. It was a beautiful gown that her dads had purchased for her for some sort of formal event for their work. It flattered her figure, but didn't make her appear too short. She carefully swept her hair up into an elegant up do similar to the one she'd worn to the wedding of Carole and Burt. When she came downstairs in her heels to have her dads zip her up they smiled proudly at her. She was becoming such a beautiful young woman.

The boys were both on her doorstep at exactly 5:30, and they looked incredible in their tuxes. Rachel insisted that they pose with her while her dads snapped some photos. They took her out to Finn's car and left for the opera.

The crowd milling around, waiting to be seated, was not exactly what Finn had expected. He had assumed that it would be a bunch of old people and them. It was a mixed crowd. There were some white haired people, but there were some younger people like them, too.

Rachel sat in between her boys and tried to contain herself as the lights dimmed. From the moment the performance started she focused the whole of her formidable attention upon it. Finn and Puck grinned at each other over her head. This one was a home run. Their girl was so happy she was radiant. Finn tried to pay attention, he really did. He was trying to follow along with the basic storyline, which Kurt had carefully and painstakingly outlined for him. Kurt had offered to do the same for Puck, who said he'd rather be mauled by angry bears. Finn ended up spending most of the time they were there with a slightly confused expression on his face. Mostly because they weren't speaking any English at all, and he was trying to see where it fit in to the outline Kurt had explained to him.

During the intermission, Rachel questioned him briefly.

"Finn baby, are you okay? You seemed like something was bothering you."

"No. I was just trying to see where it matched what Kurt told me." Rachel's expression cleared and she regarded him with fond adoration.

"You had Kurt explain the plot to you?"

"He offered to and I wanted to at least know what was supposed to be happening." Finn shrugged. Puck rolled his eyes at him.

"He offered it to me too," Puck muttered. "It just seemed like a colossal waste of time." Rachel got a peculiar look on her face.

"I see," she said slowly. Then the bell dinged, letting them know it was time to go back in. She swept back into the opera hall and found her seat easily.

"Dude, that was stupid," Finn hissed at Puck.

"Well, it did." Puck didn't see what the problem was here. Finn gave him a look that clearly said _you are in such deep shit, I almost feel sorry for you_. What the hell? So he should have sat down and had Kurt yammer at him for freaking ever until his ears bled?

Unfortunately, the gravity of Puck's situation some how escaped him after the first hour of the second half. He pulled out his phone and started playing a game. Rachel wasn't paying attention to him anyway, all of her focus was on the stage. That is, until the dramatic ending of Act IV where Don José murders Carmen. Rachel was sobbing into the handkerchief she'd brought for that very reason and turned to ask Puck what he thought of the climactic moment.

"Are you kidding me?" She hissed at him as quietly as possible. He looked up to see her enraged chocolate eyes smoldering at him. _Oh shit_. He expected Rachel to do the drama queen thing and start screaming at him. However, the very last thing she was going to was cause a scene in the middle of the Lima Performing Arts Center. This was her special night, damn it. The night she'd been dreaming about for weeks. Her face became a cold mask. She turned and watched the last few minutes of the performance. She applauded enthusiastically and called out bravo or brava depending upon the performer taking his or her bow. When it was time, she rose and followed Finn to the aisle and then swept up it like a tiny queen with her retinue trailing behind her.

"What the hell were you doing?" Finn muttered at him out of the side of his mouth.

"Nothing. I got bored somewhere around the end of scene III so I decided to play a game on my phone. She didn't even notice till the end of the opera."

"Noah, that was a dumbass thing to do." Puck was so surprised that Finn called him Noah he didn't respond.

They both headed out to the car where Rachel was standing with her hands on her hips tapping her foot. She didn't speak the entire trip home. Puck sat in the backseat. He tried to apologize several times, but Rachel ignored everything he said. She refused to speak to him or look at him. Finn didn't say anything. At the moment, he was _not_ in trouble, and he didn't want to change that. They got to her house and Rachel turned to Finn.

"Thank you, Finn. It was such a wonderful performance. I feel so lucky to have been able to attend it." She pulled his head down and gave him a slow, lingering kiss. It was the sort of kiss that curled a person's toes. She looked up at him with her chocolate eyes.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Rach. We hoped you would." She made a slight moue of displeasure when he said 'we'.

"Good night, Finn."

"Um…good night, Rachel."

She opened the door and got out. She shut the door and marched up to the front door and let herself in. The front door of the house slammed.

"Dude, you are in such deep shit." Puck leaned his head against the back of the seat and closed his eyes. Well, duh. He'd sort of figured that part out.


	14. Grovelling

_I do not know how many of you have actually attended an opera performance. They generally last about four hours, and many of the classic operas are in a foreign language: German, Italian, Spanish, or French. In addition, many opera writers will take a basic premise that people are familiar with and put their own spin on it. This means that even if you know the original story—you might still have no idea what's going on in the opera. (This happened to me with Wagner's Parsifal.) However, the music can be incredibly beautiful and well worth reading a translation of the libretto so that you can follow along. Unless, of course, you're a self-proclaimed bad ass. Then you probably wouldn't want to do any such thing. (That's okay; we still love you, Puck!)_

Defying Gravity started playing, but Kurt was sleeping so he tried to ignore it. He opened one eye and glared at the clock. Then he realized whose ring tone that was and what time it was and he sat straight up in bed. He started searching for his phone and finally found it under his bed. He glanced at the display. He'd missed _five calls_. His eyebrows climbed up his forehead. What the hell had they done _now_? He hit the speed dial for Rachel.

"Well it's about damn time," she bit out through clenched teeth.

"Geez, Rachel, I was asleep! You know, some people do that." Kurt was just a little peeved. He'd called, hadn't he?

"Look, I'm really sorry. That came out all wrong. I'm just so upset. Kurt, can I come sleep with you, tonight? He'll probably be on my damn doorstep at the crack of dawn and I really can _not_ deal with his shit right now."

"Honey, don't you think he'll notice you sitting at the breakfast table?" Kurt was still half asleep and he had the feeling he wasn't keeping up with the conversation somehow.

"No! Finn's not the problem. It's _Puckerman_." Rachel growled his name into the phone. Ah. Well, Kurt could kind of see her point there. When Puck screwed up he went all out on apologies, which was fine once Rachel felt like dealing with him. She usually needed a little time to calm down, but for whatever reason Puck never seemed to take that into consideration.

"Okay. Um…how am I supposed to explain you in my bed? My dad will probably flip out. Mom won't be thrilled either." Rachel sighed heavily in his ear.

"Never mind. I'll call Santana."

"Now wait just a minute! I didn't say no, I just said I'm going to catch a lot of flack for this, and you had better help explain it all to the parents."

"Fine. I'll be there in a few." And then she hung up on him. He started muttering under his breath. Seriously, there were days he wanted to smack her. He loved her, but he still felt a deep, overwhelming desire to bitch slap her.

She was true to her word. In about five minutes, his bedroom window slid open and she slipped in with an overnight bag. His eyes widened.

"It's like you're a spy or something. Good evening, Miss Peel," Kurt waved her into the room. She giggled at him.

"Don't be silly. It just seemed easier than pissing off your mom and dad."

"What about your dads?" Rachel shrugged.

"Actually, they knew I was extremely upset and I told them that if I could get a hold of you and you said yes, I was going to sleep with you tonight."

"So Rachel, what the hell happened?"

Rachel stalked up and down his small room waving her hands and telling him in excruciating detail what had happened. Kurt sat there with his jaw open. Puck was an idiot. If he had really done what she was freaking out about, he would be lucky if she forgave him in a month. Maybe two. She was in full diva fury, but she stopped at one point to give him a sweet, adoring smile.

"Thank you so much, Kurt, for explaining the plot to Finn. That was such a sweet thing to do. He was trying so hard to understand everything that was going on. Unlike some people," she muttered under her breath. That started another tirade. Kurt let her get it all out, and eventually she wound completely down.

"Tired, sweetie?" Kurt thought she looked exhausted. She nodded and crawled into bed with him. She cuddled up against him and was asleep within minutes. Kurt felt himself drifting off as well.

Sunday morning dawned bright and clear at the Hummel-Hudson home. Carole was already at the hospital—she had to work early shifts all this week. Finn was still sleeping, until his phone started ringing. God, couldn't people let him sleep on the weekend? He started groping for the phone and found it under a pillow.

"Hullo," he muttered into the phone.

"Dude, she's not home."

"What?"

"Rachel. She's not home. Her dads told me she left last night. She's not there is she?"

"What? No! She's not here! My parents would flip the fuck out. Geez, Puck are you thinking at all?"

"Well, Santana says she's not at her house. I thought maybe she'd come talk to Kurt or something." Puck sounded really unhappy. Finn couldn't really blame him. Both of them hated it when Rachel was mad at them.

"Well, let me ask Kurt if he's talked to her, okay?" Finn got up and walked down the hall. He rapped on Kurt's door. "Hey Kurt? Have you talked to Rachel since last night?"

"Uh…no…no I haven't!" Kurt's voice sounded kind of strained. Finn cocked his head at the door. That was really weird. Rachel _always_ called Kurt. She talked to Kurt almost more than she did to either Puck or Finn.

"Um…okay. Well, if you hear from her please tell her to call me."

"Uh…sure…I'll pass it on."

"Thanks, Kurt." Finn started talking to Puck on his phone.

"He hasn't heard from her, dude. I don't know. Why don't you call Mercedes?"

Rachel sat on Kurt's bed and listened to Finn talking into his phone on the way back to his room. Kurt was glaring at her from where he stood by the door.

"I do not like lying to Finn." Kurt's tone was irritated. Rachel gave him her very best sad face with her huge chocolate eyes. Kurt snorted at her. "That does not work on me, missy."

"Fine. I'm leaving. I should be able to avoid him for the rest of the day. I probably should have stayed at Santana's last night. It wasn't fair to pull you into this." Rachel stood and started gathering her things. Kurt sighed.

"Rachel, I really do adore you. You know that, right?"

"Yes. I do. I also know I can be a little too much at times."

"Just a bit." Kurt smiled at her fondly.

Rachel took a quick shower, changed, and snuck back out the window. Kurt shook his head. She was amazing. Most of the time, people thought they knew all about Rachel Berry. If you asked your average person about her they'd go on and on about how she was a drama queen (okay, maybe a bit), self-centered, Broadway obsessed, career focused, authority Nazi. Those people never really saw the real Rachel Berry. She wasn't obsessed with Broadway, she just talked about it—which was more than anyone else at WMHS ever did. She _was_ determined to have a career on Broadway someday, but that was better than working at the Burger Barn for the rest of her life, right? However, Rachel didn't allow her love of Broadway or her plans for a career completely rule her high school life. She tried to have a balanced life and enjoy herself now, while she could. She knew the future would hold a lot of sacrifices if she really did want to make it big. Besides, when she talked on and on about nothing but going to New York it annoyed most people. And they weren't shy about telling her to stick a sock in it. As far as authority Nazi…that was more due to the fact that Rachel worried about relinquishing control to other rather than some sort of lust for power. Rachel didn't trust a lot of people because she'd been hurt one too many times. If she gave up control, if she trusted others…they might hurt her.

However, the thing that most people never really understood was that Rachel was so much more than all of that. She was a complex person with all kinds of thoughts, feelings, dreams and ideas. Maybe that was the problem with high school. Everyone wanted you to be two-dimensional…easy to pigeon-hole, easy to label, easy to ignore. Kurt knew all about that. A lot of people figured they knew everything just because he was "the gay kid". A lot of people were dead wrong. Rachel Berry was none of those things. Maybe, Kurt mused to himself that was why so many people had a problem with Rachel— because they couldn't just label her and put her in a slot.

*glee*

Rachel managed to elude Puck by driving to the mall and hanging out. Puck really hated the mall with a deep passion. He thought it was stupid and trite and fed into the cult of mass consumption and America's obsession with materialism. He didn't put it quite that way, but Rachel knew what he meant. She couldn't help but think about Puck all day long. Today was his day. The one day of the week (well…maybe Friday, too) when Puck was himself. When he was Noah. When he stopped hiding behind the façade he'd created for himself as a coping mechanism. He was actually very intelligent—he was just afraid to _act_ intelligently at school because that was like a death sentence. She loved talking to him about all kinds of different things: politics, news, society, anything. His perspective was always unique, and always interesting. He loved music and glee because it let him express himself in ways he just couldn't in the halls of McKinley.

A group of punk wannabes made Rachel hide a grin. Puck also had a bad boy side, but unlike the wannabes—he really was badass. It wasn't his choice really; his home life had been less than desirable when he was a kid. She didn't blame him for becoming tough because he never had control over his life. Most people don't realize it, but sometimes Middle School can be worse than High School. That's when she'd become friends with Puck and Finn. They were the three musketeers. All three of them had unusual/broken homes or "alternative families". Rachel had two parents, but most of Lima wasn't comfortable with the fact that they were both men. Puck and Finn both had single mothers, although their circumstances were very different. They'd stuck together through thick and thin. They'd protected Rachel from some of the gangs of girls who made it their life's goal to torture anyone who didn't conform to their preconceived sense of what was acceptable. It might have been then that she fell a little bit in love with both of them. At the time, she hadn't understood what she felt or what it meant. It was only years later that she realized how special and important they'd become to her.

God, she missed him. _Noah_. It was Sunday, and she should be with him right now. She felt a pang. That just made her angry again. How could he completely ignore her like that? Did he respect her at all? Did he have any regard for her at all? (She knew the answer to all of those questions was yes, he did. She knew Puck totally adored her, but she really wanted to be angry at him and she ignored that annoying little voice in her head.) Rachel's phone had been ringing off the hook. She answered texts from everyone except Puck and Finn. Puck's she ignored. She checked Finn's to make sure Puck wasn't flipping out too much. She knew Finn really cared about Puck and would hang out with him to make sure he was okay. She supposed that might be a bonus of having two boyfriends. They could keep each other company when she refused to speak to one of them.

_Rach? R u mad at me 2? U won't answer any of my txts._

Finn was not playing fair now. She frowned at her phone and texted Kurt.

_Will you tell Finn I'm not mad at him? And I'm not stupid, either._

There. That way they would know she knew they were together. _Silly boys, tricks are for girls_, she thought to herself with a smirk.

*glee*

Monday morning brought Rachel a locker filled with roses. There was no card, but she knew who they were from. Everyone knew who they were from. The gossip mills were hard at work and everybody already knew that Puck was in trouble. Finn wasn't at her locker, but she didn't expect him to be. It wasn't exactly bros before hos, but Puck and Finn had a fairly complex system that they had worked out between them. If one of them was in trouble, the other did _not_ rub it in. Unless of course, whatever the person had done was so douche-y, you deserved to have it rubbed in. (Neither boy had ever done anything that rude, but they had a clause just in case.) That meant you didn't go hang out at Rachel's locker and kiss her and talk to her and have her bat those chocolate eyes at you and coo at you when the other guy was being ignored. Rachel actually respected that. She liked the fact that her boys respected each other enough and cared about each other's feelings enough to not deliberately hurt one another or create hard feelings.

She walked to first period alone and sat with Mercedes as usual. Mercedes was trying to text as fast as humanely possible before the bell rang and class officially started. She glanced at Rachel and flashed her a smile.

"Hey, girl. How come you didn't come see me Sunday?"

"Did anybody show up on your doorstep Sunday?"

"Yeah. Puck came looking for you. Did you two fight or something?"

"Oh please. Are you trying to tell me Kurt didn't call you the second I left his house on Sunday morning?"

"Wait, you were at Kurt's Sunday morning?" Mercedes eyes got big and she had paused midtext. _Oops_.

"Yeah, but I made him tell Finn he hadn't heard from me so you can't say anything!" Crap. Crapcrapcrap. Mercedes nodded.

"Okay, Rachel. I won't say anything. Calm down, you look like you're going to hyperventilate."

*glee*

Puck was miserable. He hated it when Rachel was mad at him. He hated it even more when she ignored him. He knew she just needed time and space to calm down. He knew she loved him and didn't want to lose her temper and say something she'd regret later, but knowing all that didn't make the ache inside go away. When Puck was miserable, he ended up taking it out on innocent parties. He may or may not have made some freshmen wet themselves by growling at them. Finn punched him in the shoulder and gave him a look. Puck knew what he meant. Just because his life sucked didn't mean he needed to terrorize freshmen. Too bad it was only Monday. He could really use fight club right about now.

"Well…the roses didn't work. We know that just kind of softened her up. What should I do next?" Finn shrugged.

"I don't know. You're usually really good at this stuff. What's wrong?"

"Dude, she is really, really mad." Finn just looked at him. "Okay, maybe I should have known that would set her off. I don't know…it's just after the first two or three hours of them screeching in Russian or whatever, I got bored."

"It's hard to follow," Finn agreed. "But, dude, she sits through football with us and never complains. She even asks us questions about what's going on. She does try."

Puck sighed. Why did Finn have to be right? Rachel did sit through football with the boys. College games on Saturdays with Finn and pro games on Sundays with Puck. He grinned as he thought about her trying to pay attention for their sake.

"_Noah, did that man just say the team is using a nipple defense?" Rachel sounded slightly scandalized._

"_No, baby, __**nickel**__ defense. They're using a nickel defense. It means there are five guys involved in the play." Rachel nodded seriously and then turned back to the screen. Puck hugged her to his side and kissed the top of her head. She was so cute._

Puck sighed again. _Damn it_. Finn looked at him. He really hated to see Puck miserable. Everything just worked better when the three of them were all okay with each other. What would make Rachel forgive him?

"What about a song?" Finn suggested. Puck thought about that. Rachel really could not resist stuff like that. She ate it up. You would think that that sort of thing would get old after awhile, but not to her.

"It would have to be a really good one," Puck said slowly.

"And it would have to show how sorry you are," added Finn. Puck thought for a minute.

"What about Buckcherry's Sorry?" Finn eyes widened and then he grinned at Puck. They fist bumped.

"Dude." And Puck knew what he meant. It was going to be epic. They practiced for a couple days to make sure Puck could hit all the notes. The thing with Rachel was that if you were going to sing to her—it had to be perfect. Some crappy half-ass attempt would not cut it.

On Wednesday, it was easy to convince Mr. Schue to let Puck sing. He didn't do that many solos and Mr. Schue was all about letting everyone have a chance to express themselves. Puck picked up his guitar and Finn backed him up on drums. The jazz band helped too, but he felt better knowing Finn was there. He hated exposing his feelings in front of everybody. He felt that what the three of them had together, whatever the hell it was, was special…private. It was nobody else's damn business.

He took a couple deep breaths and then turned around and started to sing. He looked right at Rachel, who was giving him her full attention.

_Oh I had a lot to say was thinking on my time away  
I missed you and things weren't the same_

Cause everything inside it never comes out right  
And when I see you cry it makes me want to die

I'm sorry I'm bad,

_I'm sorry you're blue,_

_I'm sorry about all things I said to you  
And I know I can't take it back  
I love how you kiss,_

_I love all your sounds,_

_and baby the way you make my world go round  
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry:_

This time I think I'm to blame it's harder to get through the days  
You get older and blame turns to shame

Cause everything inside it never comes out right  
And when I see you cry it makes me want to die

I'm sorry I'm bad,

_I'm sorry you're blue, _

_I'm sorry about all things I said to you  
And I know I can't take it back  
I love how you kiss, _

_I love all your sounds, _

_and baby the way you make my world go round  
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry:_

Every single day I think about how we came all this way  
The sleepless nights and the tears you cried it's never too late to make it right  
Oh yeah sorry!

I'm sorry I'm bad, 

_I'm sorry you're blue, _

_I'm sorry about all things I said to you  
And I know I can't take it back  
I love how you kiss, _

_I love all your sounds, _

_and baby the way you make my world go round  
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry._

Rachel watched him with those beautiful eyes. Everyone in glee was watching, too. They had all noticed the tension, and everyone had heard that Puck was in trouble. The song he had just performed was that of a lover. He wondered if they were wondering about that. _Fuck it_. He took another breath and walked over to Rachel. He held out his hand to her.

"Forgive me?" She placed her tiny hand in his and her chocolate eyes narrowed and glinted at him.

"Not quite yet, but you're getting there." She informed him with a slight sniff. He almost whooped. _She was talking to him again_. Thank god. He really could not stand it when she ignored him. He knew it was just her trying to calm down and not kill him, but it really sucked. He sat down next to her and Finn came and sat on the other side. They sat through the rest of glee, but all he could really focus on was that his girl was talking to him again. He couldn't have told you if Mr. Schue danced buck naked in the classroom.

*glee*

That Sunday, Puck took Rachel to a matinee performance of a modern dance troupe. He gritted his teeth and watched the whole damn thing with her. He'd called ahead to make sure it was less than two hours because he figured that was his limit. Rachel was thrilled because it was spontaneous _and_ she knew Puck was trying to show her that he did care about the things she liked. That was her Noah. She held his hand through out the performance and occasionally stroked his arm. He watched her watching the performance. He wasn't sure how she could focus every fiber of her being on something, but he knew it was one of the things he loved about her.

When it was over, they both clapped appreciatively, but for vastly different reasons. Rachel had enjoyed the performance. Puck was eternally grateful it was done and he could leave. Rachel turned to him with those incredible eyes of hers. They were shining and she was looking at him in that special way. _I love you._ That's what those eyes were saying to him.He could feel himself melting inside. It was unnerving that she could just do that to a dude. _There should be laws_. She bit her lower lip and then placed her hand on his. _Seriously, somewhere there should be law makers making laws against this stuff_.

"Thank you, Noah."

"Anything for you, shorty."

_A/N: Now if there are those of you who feel Rachel has not been Diva enough, please try to contain yourselves. I'm sure if we give her enough room she'll work herself up to Diva tantrum. However, if I had two gorgeous boys waiting on me hand and foot I think I'd find it difficult to be cranky. I appreciate all of you who have given kind words, story alerts (and my personal favorite), favorite story selections. It makes me all giddy and light headed. You should know that it's your interest that keeps me updating. You guys inspire me and some junk. XD_


	15. Prom

_A/N: Prom. It's coming. You know it is. Also, it truly is cummerbund (which just looks wrong). I guess it comes from the Persian "kamarband", which means loincloth. Huh. The stuff you learn._

The guys were all hanging out at Sam's house for a video game marathon. (It's a boy thing.) At some point, the conversation drifted around to Prom (yeah, with a capital "P"—especially when the girls talked about it). The guys had all cemented the details with their respective girlfriends. Sam didn't really need to cement any details, Quinn had everything planned like an army supply sergeant. He basically just had to stand there and look pretty. That was fine by him—he didn't really want to have to worry about that sort of stuff. Mike and Artie were looking into handicap accessible limos. Did they make those? Artie had heard of one somewhere, but he wasn't sure if they had them in Lima, Ohio. Blaine had some sort of plan, but he refused to divulge it to Kurt who was with the girls on some sort of secret Prom Mission. The boys all knew what that meant. They were at the mall. Finn and Puck didn't say a word. See? That was the sort of thing that would wiggle around in Sam's head. Here was everyone complaining about Prom and their women freaking out about everything, and Puck and Finn were just silent. Sam didn't think anyone else really noticed. Why did he? Why should he care? He wasn't sure. Maybe it was because he was a transfer student and he saw things that everybody else at WMHS just ignored.

"So, Puck, Finn, does Rachel want a limo?" Sam figured that might be safe. He wasn't suggesting that _they_ were taking her, even though everyone knew that they were taking her. Seriously, if Rachel showed up at prom with some random guy—there would be some sort of apocalypse or something.

"Yeah." Finn's monosyllabic answer had Sam grinding his teeth.

"Has she insisted you guys have cummerbunds that match her dress colors? Quinn is making me wear some god-awful shade of green to match hers." Sam knew he was pushing it. If Puck clocked him, he clocked him. Curiosity was starting to consume him. Finn and Puck looked at each other. There was some kind of look exchanged.

"No." Sam felt like banging his head against the floor.

*glee*

Kurt and the girls of glee were taking the mall by storm. All of the girls had their dresses already, but now they were looking for the perfect accessories. They were also discussing hairstyles, heels or pumps, nails, etc. Kurt figured a nice manicure would be fine for him, and he had already made his, Mercedes and Rachel's appointments weeks ago. Lauren, Mercedes and Santana had decided to go together as friends along with Kurt and Blaine. Santana was privy to Blaine's secret plans and Kurt was shamelessly trying to pump her for information.

"Yes, but is he renting a limo?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that." That had been Santana's answer to every question. Kurt hissed in annoyance.

"Santana," Kurt wheedled.

"Nope. I promised, Kurt. I keep my promises. Ask Rachel." Santana shot an evil grin at the petite brunette who rolled her eyes at both of them.

"Yes, she does. It is both her best and her worst feature."

Quinn was browsing through clutch bags looking for the perfect one to match her gown. Tina and Brittany were trying to help, but Quinn was approaching a meltdown. Rachel looked on with a mixture of amusement and consternation. She turned to Santana and muttered under her breath.

"Be damn grateful _she's_ not your one true love. She is going to be one huge bridezilla someday." Santana clapped a hand over her mouth to hold back the snicker that threatened to pop out. Rachel had a wicked sense of humor. If she felt like being brutally honest with herself, she was glad that she knew Rachel well enough to see that side of her. Quinn looked at them both suspiciously and they attempted to don angelic smiles for her. She frowned at them, and then continued to look at clutches.

"I just can't find what I need here." Quinn was angry and it was starting to show. The other girls looked at each other uneasily. Then they looked at Kurt. _Help_. He frowned at Quinn for a moment.

"Well, Quinn, you don't want it to match perfectly, do you? I mean, you already have Sam matching you, right? Maybe you should try for an accent color? Maybe something in white or silver? You wouldn't want to be too matchy-matchy." He dug through the clutch bags and pulled out a beautiful white beaded bag.

"Well, that might work," Quinn murmured to herself.

"Of course it will, darling."

Crisis averted. Kurt subtly acknowledged the grateful looks from the other girls. They moved on to the food court for lunch. Rachel ended up with a non-dairy smoothie. It was her go-to mall treat because it was vaguely healthy and the safest vegan choice. The girls all chatted happily about their plans. Lauren and Mercedes were just as enthusiastic as Tina, Brittany, and Quinn. Rachel noted that Santana wasn't quite as excited. She reached out and squeezed Santana's hand. Santana gave her weak smile. It was hard knowing that she couldn't go to prom with the one person she truly wanted to take.

"So, have you forgiven Puck yet?" Santana figured that if she changed the subject she could forget about prom for a minute. Rachel made a moue of displeasure and tossed her hair.

"He's still working on it." Rachel finally said. Mercedes laughed.

"Carry a grudge much, Rachel? That poor boy has been working his butt off for two weeks!"

"Well maybe he'll learn his lesson, and it won't happen again." Rachel could be merciless when she chose.

"He's just happy she's talking to him," Kurt observed with a wicked grin.

To say that Lauren, Tina, Brittany, and Quinn were missing subtext would be an understatement. Well, Lauren was pretty sure she knew what was going on. Tina sort of knew. Brittany didn't really care. She was too busy feeling conflicted about prom and Artie and Santana. Why did life have to be so hard? Why couldn't everything be easy? Quinn also didn't really care, but that was because she was focused on prom. If Rachel had been privy to those thoughts she would probably have been grateful that Quinn didn't care, and wished that Tina and Lauren weren't quite so observant.

It was not that she was ashamed of her boys. What sort of idiot wouldn't be proud to be with either of them? That was the crux of the matter for Rachel. It wasn't that she was with either of them. She was with both of them, and that just wasn't normal. Rachel Berry was the last person to care about appearing "normal". She had two gay dads, after all. Rachel had never been normal, and she'd always been a little proud of that. Kurt always liked to remind her that Elizabeth Taylor said that anything that came from love couldn't be bad. Still, even among alternative lifestyles _this_ (whatever it was) was alternative. Sometimes, Rachel worried about the future—what would happen after high school? Then she would resolutely turn her thoughts away. She would cross that bridge when she came to it. That was another year away.

"Rachel? Rachel, honey?" Mercedes was looking at her. She shook herself and realized they were all looking at her.

"I'm so sorry. I must have been daydreaming." Everyone laughed.

"I asked if you and the boys were going to rent a limo," Lauren asked from the end of the table. Rachel smiled at Lauren. She really liked the opinionated girl from the wrestling team. Lauren didn't take anyone's crap.

"I think they are. They might be working with Blaine. They've been extraordinarily tight-lipped about their plans. I think Puck's using it as a shameless way to score extra points." Everyone laughed again. The mood at their table was light and cheery. Kurt and the girls had finished all their shopping successfully and everyone was happy.

"Puck is completely shameless when it comes to you, Rachel," Brittany offered. Rachel's cheeks turned slightly pink. Yes, Brittany usually made very odd statements, but every now and then she would say something that was uncanny. Why did _now_ have to be one of those times?

*glee*

The messrs. Berry were sitting at the kitchen table reading different sections of the newspaper. They looked up as Rachel came into the kitchen, then they glanced at one another and exchanged a look. Rachel had her determined face on.

"Dads?"

"Yes, sweetheart?" Rachel swallowed nervously.

"I think we should talk," she announced. She sat down at the table across from them and clasped her hands in her lap. She looked very earnest and serious. Both of her fathers suppressed smiles at the sight.

"What about dear?" They attempted to look innocent, as though they had no idea what their daughter might wish to discuss with them.

"It's about Puck and Finn."

"Ah."

"Um…you know that I've been friends with both of them since…gosh I guess sixth grade." Both dads nodded. They were well aware of that fact. Rachel swallowed nervously again and looked at her hands in her lap. Then she looked up at her dads again. They looked curious, but they also looked encouraging. Why was this so hard?

"Rachel, honey, you're not…um…" Her dad looked helplessly at his husband.

"Um, I think what your father is trying to ask is…" They both were struggling to ask the question.

"Well, dear, are you…pregnant?"

"What? No! No, dads. I am not pregnant." Rachel's cheeks were flaming. "I guess if I tell you I need to talk about Puck and Finn and you assume I'm pregnant—you already know what I'm trying to talk to you about."

"Sweetheart, if you could see how those boys look at you. It's pretty obvious they're both in love with you." She peeked at them from behind a curtain of hair. They didn't look condemning or angry. They looked sympathetic and loving.

"It's also pretty obvious that you love them both right back." Her dads looked at her fondly.

"How long have you known," she asked quietly. Her dads frowned and looked at one another. They thought about it for a while.

"I think…I think it was when you were…attacked." Rachel shuddered involuntarily. Jacob ben Israel had been expelled from WMHS, and formally charged with assault and attempted rape. The trial had been embarrassing and humiliating and Rachel hated thinking about it. Jacob was still in juvie. He'd better hope he stayed there for some time. If Finn and Puck ever saw him again…well…she probably shouldn't think about that. Plausible deniability was key.

"Sweetheart, we were devastated. No parent ever wants to think that their precious, beautiful child will have to go through what you went through. Puck and Finn, they were heartbroken and I think they lost it just a little bit. They kept saying that they should never have listened to you and that if they'd been with you, you would have been safe. They weren't talking like friends, Rachel. They acted like…I guess how I'd react if your dad were assaulted." Her dad smiled at his husband and they reached across the table to hold hands for a moment.

"Your Finn, he broke down in my arms and just cried." Her other dad commented quietly. She had always known that both of her dads liked and respected her boys. Puck and Finn were always polite to her dads, but what they really appreciated was the way both boys treated Rachel.

"So you've known for a long time then." Rachel said quietly. Her dads nodded. "And you aren't mad?" Her voice was scared, shaky.

"Sweetheart, your relationship is unusual, yes. However, we have never seen either boy treat you with anything less than respect, love, and caring. What father can complain about that? Do we want you to grow up? No. No parent does because when you grow up, you leave. Do we want you to be happy and treated well? Yes. I'm not sure what you expected from us. We've always tried to support you and provide an open environment for you to ask questions. We kept hoping that you would trust us enough and feel comfortable enough to talk to us. We love you, Rachel. We always will. There's nothing you can do to change that."

Rachel started crying and both fathers came to hug her and pat her carefully on the back.

"Dads, I love you too! You are both the best parents ever!"

"Rachel, honey, there is one question we do have. Why talk about it now? What's going on that made you break your silence?" Rachel composed herself and thought for a couple minutes.

"Well, prom is soon, which made me realize that there will be quite a few important occasions soon that I will want both boys to be involved in and I would like you two to be involved in, as well. Prom is just one of those. It seemed time, I suppose. You should know that they haven't talked about anything with their families. Kurt knows, but Finn didn't tell him—he found out."

"Okay, sweetheart."

This serious heartfelt conversation between Rachel and her dads didn't really change things. Puck and Finn felt slightly self conscious at first, but when her dads continued to treat them the same they relaxed. The four of them had always had a fairly good relationship. The boys were always polite and Rachel's dads were always friendly and kind. Even when Rachel was angry at them for something, her dads were polite. They knew their daughter very well, and they knew whatever had upset her was transient, but her feeling for the boys wouldn't change.

*glee*

Prom night in the Hummel-Hudson house was kind of scary. Burt hid in the kitchen for most of it. When the boys were done getting ready, they came downstairs. Finn and Kurt both looked so handsome that Carole started to cry.

"They both look so grown up! Burt, where did I put the camera?"

When Blaine arrived, Carole insisted on taking pictures of Blaine and Kurt. She also took pictures of Blaine, Kurt and Finn. Then Puck showed up, and Carole took a few more pictures. All of the boys looked so cute in their tuxes. A horn beeped outside.

"That's the limo, Mrs. Hummel," Blaine apologized. Kurt squealed.

"You did get a limo!" Blaine smirked. He was feeling pretty proud of himself at the moment. Then he caught sight of the slight frowns on Finn and Burt's faces and he smiled weakly at Kurt.

"Yeah. Do you want the girls to come in, Mrs. Hummel?" Carole nodded. Soon her living room was filled with laughing people. Lauren, Mercedes and Santana looked beautiful in their dresses. They had drawn names and purchased corsages for each other. The girls were flushed and happy. Carole took a few more group shots.

"Mom? We're going to have to go because I know Rachel's dads are going to want to do this too and we still need to go to dinner." Finn was looking at the time on his phone. Carole and Burt kissed and hugged their sons and waved at everyone as they piled into the limo.

Rachel's dads made everybody pose in front of the limo and then come in the house and pose in the living room too. Rachel was breathtaking in her prom dress. Finn and Puck put the wrist corsage on together. She kissed each of them on the cheek.

"Is that Marc Jacobs?" Kurt was hissing at her. She frowned at him.

"Yes. My dads picked it up on a business trip."

"I love it," he murmured stroking the fabric with his fingertips.

"Kurt! Down boy!" He snatched his fingers back and sniffed at her.

"Smile everybody!" Everybody smiled until their cheeks hurt. They all piled into the limo again and headed to dinner. Dinner was a lot of fun. They met up with Brittany, Artie, Tina, Mike, Sam and Quinn and had one long table. Everyone had fun. It was perfect. Rachel smiled at everyone. She knew that this would be one of those forever moments that people would talk about years later. _"Remember Junior Prom when we shared that big table?"_ She felt herself start to tear up a little. Puck was busy talking to Sam, and he wasn't even looking at her, but he was handing her a handkerchief. That was so sweet, it just made her tear up more. Finn was on her other side and he slid an arm around her waist and gave her a quick hug while he talked to Artie. How did she get so lucky?

The dance turned out to be just as much fun as dinner. The glee club all sat together and danced together and had a blast. Puck and Finn took turns dancing slow dances with Rachel. During fast dances she usually danced with the girls in a group. Everything was great, until it came time to crown the prom king and queen. Then it got a little scary. Principal Figgins was on the stage giving some sort of inane speech that Rachel sort of tuned out.

"This year William McKinley High School's 2011 prom king and queen are…" He paused for dramatic effect. He glanced at the paper handed to him and frowned. "I am sorry. I misspoke. I meant to say this year's prom king and _king_ are Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson."

Finn and Puck started whooping. Rachel was jumping up and down screaming along with all the glee girls. Except Quinn. She had a funny look on her face. Even years later, no one could accurately describe what happened next. There were conflicting versions depending on where people were standing. Rachel's height inhibited her ability to discern anything. She was so short she couldn't see over anyone. Quinn was screaming, she could hear that. Hell, people in Minnesota could hear that. Sam was holding her back from the stage, but she was too strong for him. Puck and Finn tried to help him because Finn didn't want her anywhere near his brother. They eventually got her out of the dance. Rachel wondered if she should follow, but decided it might be best if she stayed here where it was safer. Her boys always got irrational and cranky if they felt she was putting herself in harm's way.

When Finn and Puck came back in, Rachel was livid. Puck was missing his bowtie and he had scratch marks on his face. Finn's cheek showed a clear handprint and his jacket was torn. They both grinned at the look on Rachel's face and they each kissed one of her cheeks.

"You should see the other guy, baby." Puck laughed. Rachel looked horrified.

"Is Sam okay?" She asked cautiously.

"I think she tried to gouge out his eyes at one point. He was trying to hold her back, and then I think she punched him instead. He may have a black eye." Puck was having way too much fun telling this story. Rachel gave him a steely-eyed glare.

"That's awful!"

"Hey, you get all up in that crazy, you take what get." Puck shrugged. Rachel didn't have anything to say to that. Puck and Finn had _both_ gotten all up in that crazy so she supposed he knew what he was talking about. Finn rolled his eyes.

"Anyhow, can we _please_ go congratulate my brother now?" Finn motioned toward Kurt. They all moved over to talk to Kurt and Blaine and admire their royal crowns.

The rest of the night went much better. Sam returned to the dance after a bit, and Rachel noticed that he was developing quite the shiner. Puck and Finn both talked to him. Rachel wasn't sure what they were talking about, but she suspected something along the line of "been there, done that—not worth it." Then she chastised herself for her uncharitable thoughts. _That was completely uncalled for, Rachel_. Then again, when it came to Quinn she often found herself biting the inside of her cheek until it bled. The part that really made her mad was that she knew if Quinn wanted to, she could be a truly wonderful person. She sighed. That wasn't her problem, and it was _prom_, damn it.

Rachel's prom pictures were something she treasured the rest of her life. The boys posed on either side of her for most of them, but her secret favorite was the one where they had grabbed her and held her in their arms at the same time. It was almost bridal-style, except that they were both holding her. She was laughing up into their faces and they were both laughing down at her.

_A/N: I am seriously considering ending this story, and then doing a sequel that picks up after they're out of school. How does Puckleberry Finn handle the "real world"? I think I may write one or two more chapters for this one, but I'm not certain. Talk to me people. Also, to all of you who secretly love and adore Quinn, please do not hunt me down and spork me. I like her, I think she has potential, but in this universe she kind of screwed over Rachel's boys and, well, you know how Rachel can be. (I'm kind of Rachel-centric that way.) Smoochies to all of you who have made it this far._


	16. Forgiveness is Divine

Puck lay gasping in Rachel's bed trying to catch his breath. He turned his head to look at her. She had a self-satisfied smile and she was watching him.

"Forgive me now?" She laughed and nudged him with her foot.

"Of course I do, Noah. It's just so much fun when you beg for forgiveness." Puck growled at her and she laughed harder. He watched her for a few minutes.

"You forgave me a while ago, didn't you?" She just smiled. He growled at her again and stomped off to the bathroom for a shower. When he came out she was giving him her very best sad face with her big chocolate eyes and her pouty lips. _Holy God, that is just wrong. _

"Are you mad at me, Noah?" She whispered. She fluttered her eyelashes at him. It wasn't overdone. It was actually very subtle, and Noah could feel himself giving in to her. He rejoined her on the bed and pulled her to him. She settled against his broad chest and slid her arms around his neck.

"I suppose not," he muttered against her neck. It was most likely a very good thing that he couldn't see her face because the only way to describe her current expression would be a smirk. Rachel wrapped her legs around him and showed him how much she forgave him. _She's trying to kill me, but God help me, at least I'll die happy._

Later in the day Puck dragged himself downstairs looking for something to eat. Rachel's dads had gone to the store and Puck was eternally grateful for that. He still felt a little weird knowing that they knew that he was their daughter's boyfriend. Well, one of them. He was still basking in the afterglow of prom. Rachel had gone with both of them, and everything had been just fine. It wasn't the horrifying nightmare she had envisioned. He was pretty sure that almost everybody in glee knew what was going on. Except maybe Quinn and Sam, but they were in the middle of their own weird drama. He knew Sam kept fishing, but they usually shut him down. Anyway, prom had worked out reasonably well, and Finn and Puck felt pretty secure in the current state of their relationship. Especially now that the naughty little minx had officially forgiven him. He knew she'd actually forgiven him awhile ago, she just didn't want to seem too wishy-washy. He rolled his eyes in the safety of the kitchen. There were days he wanted to just turn her over his knee and paddle her. He got a mental image of what that would look like. _Who needs food—where's Rachel?_ Puck turned and took the stairs by twos.

*glee*

It was Tuesday and it was lunch time, and Finn and Puck couldn't find Rachel. She wasn't at her locker. She wasn't in the library. She wasn't in the choir room. They shrugged and headed to the cafeteria. Rachel was sitting at their usual table where the glee club sat. However, she was not alone. Tyler Peterson, a hockey player, was sitting across from her. They walked up behind him.

"So Rachel, if you really want to help me with civics, you should come to my house. We could have a study date." Tyler Peterson was leaning towards Rachel and smiling at her. Rachel was leaning away from him with a slight frown. She glanced up at her boys, and her chocolate eyes were wide. Puck and Finn walked around the table and stood behind Rachel.

"Peterson, she isn't interested," Puck bit out between clenched teeth. Some dudes had no couth.

"You know what, Puckerman? I'd rather hear the lady speak for herself." Tyler had a smirk on his face, he was considered one of the cuter boys in school. He wasn't used to hearing no from girls at WMHS. Puck's fists clenched. He could take care of that smirk in about three seconds.

"Step off, Peterson, she isn't interested," Finn's voice was low and deadly calm. He was holding himself carefully still. Rachel could tell he was incredibly angry and that Puck was as well. Finn had a hand on Puck's arm. Rachel knew that was the only thing keeping Puck from ripping off this jerk's face in the middle of the lunch room. Tyler snorted at them both and turned back to Rachel. He smiled at her.

"What do you say, Rachel?" She smiled at him and he smirked, expecting her to acquiesce.

"I say, I'm not interested. Although I do think it's rather sad you have to hear it three times to understand." Tyler's face darkened.

"Why not?" His tone was aggravated. Puck leaned towards Tyler and practically growled in his face.

"She's spoken for. Now step off."

"So what's the deal? Hockey players aren't good enough? You only sleep with the football team?" Rachel's face turned pale and then flamed and then turned pale again. Puck looked thunderous. He was going to rip Peterson limb from limb right here in the cafeteria. He glanced at Finn who was so furious he was almost vibrating with rage. Suddenly, Sam, Mike and Artie were standing (and sitting) next to Puck and Finn.

"Is there a problem?" Sam's voice was even, quiet.

"Peterson apparently doesn't understand that no means no." Finn's voice was just as quiet. It was scary how calm his voice was when you could see him holding himself in check.

"Hey, I can play football, too, if that's the requirement, Rachel." Finn threw a desperate glance at Rachel whose face was almost beet red. She wouldn't look at either of her boys. _Please tell us it's okay to kill him. Pleasepleaseplease._

"Shut up. Just shut up." Rachel's voice was cold and she looked at Tyler as she said it. Then she stood up. Tyler grabbed at her arm. That was probably the stupidest move he could possibly have made. At that point, there was no holding either Puck or Finn back. The hockey players tried to back up Tyler, but the football players were just as ready to back up Puck and Finn. The hockey players were confused—they weren't sure exactly what was going on. The football players knew that they had never seen Puck or Finn so mad. Never. They trusted Finn, he was a good leader. If he was that mad, there was probably a really good reason. The glee studs knew that Tyler had just completely insulted Rachel and felt that the honor of the glee club was somehow at stake. It turned into a complete brawl.

Principal Figgins couldn't suspend the entire hockey team and the entire football team. It was difficult to figure out who had done what. Puck and Finn had managed to beat the complete shit out of Tyler in the middle of the brawl, but they'd ended up taking a few stray punches from random people. They all looked like hell. Principal Figgins made all of them attend classes for the rest of the day. He figured it served them right, and maybe the pain would make them think twice about public fighting. When they were all released Puck and Finn followed Tyler out.

"Don't ever come near her again. Don't ever look at her again. Don't ever talk to her like that again." Puck's voice radiated rage. Tyler ached in places he hadn't even known he'd had. He suddenly realized, by the looks on Finn's and Puck's faces, that they would be more than happy to go another couple rounds with him. The thought made his blood run cold. He tried to play it off cool.

"Whatever, if the football team wants its own personal bicycle…" Tyler was suddenly cut off when Finn's hand closed around his throat.

"Don't you_ dare_ talk about her like that," Finn growled in Tyler's face. Tyler paled a little and nodded.

"Okay, okay. Jesus. What is wrong with you guys?"

"You crossed the line, Peterson." Sam's quiet voice calmed Finn down slightly and he let go of Tyler's throat. "You don't talk about any girl like that, and especially not one like Rachel Berry. Where I come from, you would've gotten a lot worse, and the principal would've given Puck and Finn commendation awards."

Tyler blustered slightly and then he turned and practically ran from them. Puck and Finn looked at Sam.

"Thank you. We owe you one." Puck said quietly.

"Where's Rachel," asked Finn.

"I imagine she's in the choir room because it's time for glee," Sam offered. The glee studs all walked to the choir room together. When they entered the choir room, Mr. Schue hadn't arrived yet and the girls all stood and cheered for them. Puck and Finn went straight to Rachel and they did a kind of three way hug, which stopped almost immediately when Rachel hissed in pain. The boys pulled back and Finn pushed up her sleeve on the arm Tyler had grabbed. Ugly bruises were developing on her arm.

"I'm going to fucking kill him," Finn choked out.

"Stand in line," Puck muttered at him.

"It's okay, I promise." Rachel pulled down her sleeve. She kissed each of them on the cheek. "It's okay." She repeated. The boys pulled her into a loose three way hug. They sat down and Sam noticed that either Puck or Finn held her hand for whole class. _She's spoken for_. He'd heard Puck say that. Maybe it was because Sam was trying to watch them without them realizing he was watching, but he noticed Rachel's fingers touch the necklace around her throat several times. Each time she did, one of the boys would pat her hand, or rub her back gently or something. It was like they were reassuring her. He couldn't quite see the necklace until Rachel stood up to do a solo she'd been planning all week. It was a love song and several times he noticed her touch the necklace and her eyes would sort of slide towards the boys. He realized that the necklace consisted of three interlocking hearts. _Three interlocking hearts._

_How do I live without you? I want to know  
How do I breathe without you if you ever go  
How do I ever, ever survive?  
How do I, how do I, oh, how do I live?_

Sam sat through the rest of glee with a sort of bemused expression. Quinn poked him a couple times, but he wasn't really paying attention. He was thinking about Rachel's necklace. It was perhaps serendipitous that after the whole hockey incident Puck and Finn actually asked Sam, Mike and Artie to keep an eye on her to make sure Tyler got the message loud and clear. Friday found Sam sitting at the glee club table in the cafeteria with Rachel and Mercedes, while he waited for Quinn.

"So, Rachel, um…how does it all work?" Rachel cocked her head at him, a confused expression on her face.

"Well, it's a vegan pudding. I'm not exactly sure _how _they get it to come out like this. I think it's made from soy," she said slowly staring at the pudding cup in her hands and then at Sam. "Did you want to try it?" She offered him a spoonful of her pudding. He smiled weakly and shook his head.

"No. I wasn't asking about your lunch. I meant _it_. How does it all work?" Rachel started blushing. She looked at Mercedes and then back at Sam.

"Well, Sam, I don't really feel comfortable talking to you about this, but I think Ms. Pilsbury-Howell has some pamphlets that explain everything. They're kind of geared towards abstinence, but I know Quinn believes strongly in making that work for her this time." Sam turned bright red.

"No, Rachel, that's not what I meant at all." Mercedes started giggling. Then she was full out laughing. Rachel was looking at her like she was insane. Kurt walked up with his lunch tray and sat across from Mercedes and Rachel. One brow rose in question. Hmm. Finn was rubbing off on him.

"I don't know. She just started laughing like that." Rachel was really confused. Sam just wanted to die now.

"He's…he's…" Mercedes started laughing again.

"Who's he? Me?" Kurt was getting confused now too. Mercedes shook her head and pointed at Sam.

"I was trying to ask Rachel how it all worked and she thought I meant pudding…and then the birds and the bees." Sam was so thoroughly embarrassed now he might never live it down. Kurt blinked a couple times, looked at Mercedes gasping for air and then smiled a small smile.

"He means your boys, sweetie." Rachel blushed. Unconsciously, her fingers slid toward her neck.

"Why do you want to know?" After yesterday, Rachel was cautious. She wasn't that close to Sam—she didn't know him that well.

"Well…I mean…I guess it's none of my business. I've tried to talk to Puck and Finn, but they just clam up about you. They won't even have normal conversations about whether or not you wanted a limo for prom. I guess that's it really. I've tried to be friendly with them, have guy conversations but half the time we can't because I ask what I think is a perfectly friendly, polite question and they won't talk to me at all." Kurt frowned.

"What have you asked them about?"

"When I first transferred here it was obvious that all three of you were really good friends and very close. So…um…where's Rachel? Have you taken Rachel to that new chick flick? Is Rachel making you wear cummerbands that match her dress? What are you doing this weekend? What did you do this last weekend? Stuff like that. Guy stuff, really." The frustration was starting to come out in Sam's tone. Kurt nodded seriously. Rachel blushed more.

"It's probably because they both worry too much. What if you were like that Tyler Peterson jerk?" Kurt said quietly. Sam got angry.

"I _helped_ with that mess. That guy was a complete ass. I would never treat a woman that way. My mama would kick my ass herself and then my daddy would take round two while my grandparents, aunts and uncles stood in line. You do _not_ treat women like that." Kurt smiled at Sam. It was such a shame he was firmly in camp Hetero. He had such potential. _Down boy! What about your boyfriend?_ Kurt thrilled for a moment at the word boyfriend, but then focused on the issue at hand.

"What do you want to know?" Rachel spoke very quietly and she wouldn't look at him. Sam felt bad. He didn't mean to offend her.

"Never mind, Rachel. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry." She turned and looked at him. Her chocolate eyes were wary, and he realized she was afraid. Rachel Berry was afraid of _him_. That made him feel worse.

"It's okay," she said after a moment. "Well, um…I guess they were right yesterday. I'm spoken for. I just happen to be spoken for by both of them."

"You guess you're spoken for?" Puck murmured in her hair and dropped a kiss on top of her head. He sat down in between Rachel and Mercedes. Finn sat on her other side, in between Sam and Rachel. She rolled her eyes at Puck.

"Fine. I'm absolutely positive that I'm spoken for. Happy?" Finn and Puck looked at each other.

"Yeah," Finn said. Sam rolled his eyes behind Finn's back. Maybe it wasn't just him. Maybe they were like that all the time.

"What's going on, shorty," Puck was watching her face. The boys were both in protective mode. They didn't like Rachel being upset and this week had definitely done that.

"We're talking about pudding," Rachel said with a completely straight face. Then everyone started laughing. Puck and Finn shared a look. _They're all crazy_. _I know, right?_

"I was telling Rachel how you guys will never answer even the most innocuous questions about her. You guys won't even tell me if you watched a movie or football or anything." Rachel turned to Finn in surprise.

"You won't tell him if we watch football? Why not? It's not like you root for the Cornhuskers or something." Finn shrugged. It really wasn't anybody else's business.

"Wait, she actually does watch football with you guys?" Sam was impressed. Quinn would never do that with him.

"Well, if they're willing to go see plays with me, I should watch football with them, right?" Rachel was completely logical. Sam nodded. It made sense to him.

"She's actually really cute, at first she thought Buckeye was the name of the quarterback." Finn recalled fondly with a smile.

"One time, she asked me why the announcer was talking about people's butts. It took me a second to realize she meant the tight ends." Puck offered with a grin. Rachel stuck out her tongue at both boys.

"You know, I think I might start eating lunch in the girls bathroom."

"C'mon, shorty. Don't get mad," Puck wheedled. Rachel smiled and let Puck hug her against his side with one arm.

Friday Afternoon found Rachel firmly ensconced on the couch between her boys. The first thing they did was check her arm. The bruises were beginning to fade. The boys each kissed the angry marks on her arm. They cuddled her a little closer than usual. She relaxed and just let them cuddle her. She knew they were still upset about what had happened Tuesday. Her dads walked through the living room a couple times and raised an eyebrow at their daughter. Both boys were wrapped firmly around her. She rolled her eyes at them and mouthed "Tuesday". Her dads nodded and smiled. Rachel had told them about what had happened, and they were secretly pleased with the boys' behavior. They had tried to be polite, and had tried to deal diplomatically with the situation. It wasn't until their daughter was physically threatened that both boys used force to resolve the situation. While the use of force was always a last resort—unfortunately it was the only message some people understood.

"So now Sam knows." This was from Finn who offered it quietly at a random moment.

"After Tuesday, I'd say the whole school knows," Rachel's tone was difficult to discern. She didn't seem sad or angry. In fact, neither of them could figure out how she felt about that.

"Rachel? Are you okay with that?" Puck was worried about how Rachel was feeling. She could pull one of those crazy chick batty moves where she decided to dump them both. That would suck.

"I don't know how I feel. I wasn't trying to hide anything anymore. I kiss you both at school. One of you usually have an arm around my shoulder or waist at school when you walk me to classes. We aren't graphic or explicit, but it's obvious there's something involving all three of us. I guess…I just didn't expect anyone to say what Tyler said. I mean…we talked about the ramifications of you both trying to be affectionate at school, but nobody had reacted that way yet."

"That's because Peterson is a douche nozzle," Puck growled, his arms tightening reflexively around Rachel.

"Charming choice of words, Noah, but I guess what I mean is that I was lulled into a false sense of security. Maybe it's because everyone in glee has been nothing but sweet and supportive. I was living in a cocoon and it was a huge shock."

"Wait, you're not going to break up with us are you?" Finn wasn't leaving anything to chance. Life with Rachel made a person stay on his toes. He and Puck shared a quick panicked look. Rachel shook her head at him.

"No. I meant what I said in the song. How do I live without either of you? We tried that. It was awful." Rachel shuddered. Both boys squeezed her between them in a reassuring hug. Puck kissed her on the forehead.

"Good." Finn and Puck were cautiously pleased. It seemed as though they had everything figured out for now. Glee club pretty much understood everything—maybe not Mr. Schue, but really when had he ever understood any of the complex pairings and unpairings going on around him? Rachel's dads knew and they didn't care. Puck and Finn hadn't really crossed that bridge with their respective mothers, but they weren't sure if they really needed to. Finn's mom knew that he was sort of dating Rachel. Puck's mom had never been privy to his amatory excursions. Mrs. Puckerman had actually been introduced to Rachel, which was such a novel thing for her she couldn't help but assume that Noah must really love her.

For now, everything was exactly as it should be and as it needed to be. Rachel kissed each boy on the cheek and snuggled into the couch. She sighed happily.

_A/N: I think this is where I'll leave it. Let's just assume that Puckleberry Finn survives through senior year. We know that stuff will go down, and we know that our OT3 will deal with things. What I'm really wondering, and will probably write about (even if it just stays on my laptop) is what the heck the three of them would do after high school? The logistics alone are almost mindboggling. _

_**Update**__: I have gone ahead and posted the first bit of the sequel, which we can all lovingly think of as "Puckleberry Finn: 10 years later". It's called __**Life After McKinley**__. _


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